The Real Story of Bulma Briefs Reprise
by Kamejen
Summary: Did you know that DBZ was recorded incorrectly? Bulma started out in the series having been trained by Yamucha, and she played a much bigger role than certain Manga authors would have you believe... Yes, I'm looking at you, Toriyama-sensei!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I've decided after a long time away from it that, although this story is the worst Mary Sue fic I've ever even SEEN, I just love it too much to let it go. I've grown a lot since I first wrote this unfinished epic, and I absolutely abhor much of the writing mechanics I used for it. I'm revising the entire story, and I'm going to pick up where it left off after I've finished editing it. I'm sorry to all of the people who reviewed the originals; I hope you'll forgive me._

**Chapter 1: A Reunion Gone Sour**

Bulma slowly breathed in the cool ocean breeze. Muten Roshi's island did have at least one good quality, she admitted to herself. It was miles away from everything. She frowned as she thought of her last fight with Yamucha. Lately she had begun to doubt that Yamucha would ever take their relationship seriously. Sure, they'd had some great times together, but every time Bulma had tried to get serious, Yamucha had just avoided her and cheated on her with some floozy. Last night she had had enough of his playboy attitude, and she'd finally broken it off with him for the last time. It had hurt to do it, of course, but what had hurt her even more was Yamucha's reaction to her suggestion of their breakup. He had simply shrugged and left. There'd been no goodbye, no apology, and not even a protest. With just one wave of his hand, he had left her.

Shaking her head angrily, Bulma forced herself to concentrate on matters more relevant to her current situation. Irresponsible though he had been, Yamucha had been an excellent martial arts teacher. After the whole Piccolo Daimaou fiasco at the Tenkaichi Budokai, she had asked him to teach her martial arts, and although he hadn't taken her very seriously at first, he soon found out just how serious she was. She had been a natural, and it wasn't long at all before she had managed to grasp the basic concepts and move onto more powerful and remarkable techniques.

Yamucha had taught Bulma every technique he knew, including the ones he himself had created, such as the rouga fu-fu-ken (fist of the wolf fang), so-ki-dan (a devastating chi attack that took enormous amounts of control and concentration), and even bukujutsu, the technique that allowed so many of her warrior friends to fly through the air by chi power alone. She smiled as she thought back to her training sessions with him, and how much they had both enjoyed them. Fighting had seemed to be the one thing that they had connected on, ironically enough, and simple lovers' quarrels quickly became channels for intense training bouts and sparring matches. Considering Bulma's confrontational nature, these impromptu sessions happened quite regularly, and thanks to Yamucha's flirtatiousness with other women, her temper flared up even more often than most men would have liked. Still, if nothing else came out of their rocky relationship, Bulma's abilities had become nearly identical to his in terms of mastery.

She was indeed a fast learner, and when it had dawned on him that she was quickly mastering all his techniques, he had been both surprised and a little hurt, to be frank. It had taken him his whole life to get to where he was, and for some reason, Bulma took to martial arts and chi manipulation as quickly as a tadpole to water. In fact, thanks to her inquisitive and innovative nature, she was also quite good at creating her own techniques, and she often surprised him with them during their sparring matches. When at last he felt that he couldn't teach her anymore, his pride forbade him to admit it, and he did his best to hide it by having her concentrate on her stamina and physical strength. Although she was extremely bright, she never really caught on that she had reached his limitations, so she continued to revere him as her sensei long after he had ceased to teach her anything new. Even now, though they had broken up, Bulma had a great deal of respect for Yamucha as a martial artist, and were it not for their separation, she would still be training under his affectionate eye.

So far, none but she and Yamucha knew about her powers. She was keeping her chi suppressed and subdued, even now, in order to surprise everyone when Goku arrived. Now that she no longer had a sensei, she knew something had to be done. She still wanted to continue her training, and although it would be wonderful to see Son and the others after so many years, she hadn't come to the turtle hermit's island simply for a reunion.

She smiled as she wondered wistfully whether Goku would be able to find time to train her. She really had no idea what he had been up to since she last saw him. She wondered if he had kept in shape. If he wouldn't be able to, she would have to lower her standards a bit and ask Kuririn. She had thought about considering the old man, but somehow the idea of dodging his groping hands and roving eyes didn't seem like the kind of training she would particularly enjoy. She hoped Goku wasn't too busy these days.

Kuririn left the Kame House and after letting the screen door swing shut behind him, he casually walked up next to her and watched the waves hit the shore. "Hard to believe it's been five years, eh Bulma?" he commented, grinning and glancing up at her. "You're looking great. How's Yamucha doing these days?"

Bulma's contemplative, carefree expression immediately soured. "Don't ask," she snapped at him as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "If I never see that insensitive jerk again it'll be too soon."

Kuririn laughed and shook his head. "I see you two are getting along as great as ever. Anyway, I was just curious. I caught a game of his on TV the other day and he looked pretty good too. I hope you guys patch things up again like you usually do."

Bulma wondered if she should go ahead tell Kuririn about her fighting skills. Now would be a nice time, what with the hermit not being around to offer his expertise on the matter. After a moment's though, however, she decided that it would probably be better to wait and tell everyone at once. She didn't feel like explaining herself over and over, and besides, Kuririn didn't know how to keep secrets, and he'd be sure to spill the beans to Goku the moment he landed. He was such a fidgety runt sometimes.

Like a bolt out of the blue, Bulma sensed a strong chi presence approaching the island. It was a strong one too; it just had to be Goku. Grinning expectantly, she looked up in the sky in the direction of their approaching visitor. If her senses truly were as keen as Yamucha said they were, Goku must have kept himself in good condition after all.

Kuririn noticed that she was staring off into space without a spacey look, and his curiosity got the better of him. "What're you looking at?" he asked, shielding his eyes from the sun and squinting at the part of the sky she was focused on. "Hey! I can sense someone coming from up there! From the feel of his chi, it's gotta be Goku. Boy, I can't wait to see him after all this time!"

Bulma smiled. She could see Goku now. He was riding Kinto'un, the yellow cloud the turtle hermit had given him so long ago during their first dragonball hunt. She wondered if Goku often used the finicky cloud for his means of transportation. Hold on a second... who was that with him?

Kinto'un zoomed down in a graceful arc just above the sand, and Goku leapt off and landed neatly on his feet a few feet away from Bulma and Kuririn. He was wearing his Kame gi, and he looked nearly the same as she remembered him, if not just a little bit taller and beefier. He was holding a small child in his arms, and as he shot them an eager wave, the little tyke clung to him a little more closely.

"Hey Goku," Kuririn exclaimed. "It sure is great to see you! It's been a long time, buddy."

"Too long," Goku chuckled, nodding and grinning at them. The little boy peeked interestedly at Kuririn and Bulma from his vantage point in Goku's arms.

"Who's the little guy?" Bulma asked Goku, smiling at the adorable way the kid hid his face when she had referred to him. He must have been pretty shy.

"This is my kid, Gohan," Goku declared proudly. He set the little boy on the ground and patted his head. Muten Roshi had come out of the Kame house just in time to hear that last statement, so he added his two cents to the collective gasp of surprise.

"Wow, Goku!" Kuririn cried. "You, a dad? Who knew you had it in you?"

"You're not kidding," Muten Roshi chuckled. "I remember a time not too long ago when you were so thick you didn't even know the difference between men and women. Now look at you! Oh!" he cried suddenly as something occurred to him. "Did you say Gohan? You named the tyke after your Grandpa, eh?"

"That's right," Goku replied, nodding. "Gohan loves t' hear stories about Grandpa. It's too bad he'll never get to meet 'im."

"Goku with a son!" Bulma cried in amazement. "That's incredible, Goku! You and Chichi must be so proud!" As she and the others recovered from the shock of hearing that Goku was a father, little Gohan stepped forward and bowed.

"I'm very pleased to meet all of you," he said politely, his cheeks flushing a little in his shyness.

Everyone bowed in return, each one amazed at his etiquette, considering the level of sophistication of his parents. Neither Goku nor Chichi were high on social graces, and it was amazing that the little guy wasn't running around like a little monkey.

"He certainly is polite," Bulma remarked, beaming at Gohan in admiration.

"Yep," Goku replied. "Chichi's been teachin' 'im manners, and lots of other stuff."

Bulma stooped down to meet Gohan at eye level. "How old are you, Gohan?" she asked him, smiling brightly.

Gohan counted on his fingers. "I'm four," he told her, holding up his stubby little fingers for emphasis. Bulma was almost overwhelmed by the cuteness. She couldn't help but press him for more adorable tidbits.

"Are you going to be a great fighter like your dad?" she asked him, glancing up at Goku and grinning.

"No," Goku interjected. "Chichi doesn't let 'im train. She says it's a waste of energy, now that the world's at peace an' all. Instead, she makes 'im study night and day. She's bound and determined to make 'im some sort of genius scientist."

Bulma didn't exactly agree with Chichi's approach, since she herself was both a scientist and a martial artist, but Gohan wasn't her child, so there wasn't much point in arguing about it. She didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, so she switched to another subject.

"Is that a real dragonball on his hat?" she asked, as Gohan walked off to meet the turtle.

"Sure is," Goku replied. "That's the suushinkyuu, or four-star ball that my grandpa left me. We've been collecting them over the years. We have two others at home. Gohan wants to see the dragon, but it'll be hard to make him give that ball up, since he likes it so much."

Kuririn looked at Gohan again and noticed something more than a little unsettling. "Check it out!" he cried. "Gohan has a tail, just like Goku used to!" They all gaped at Gohan's wriggling, monkey-like tail and began sharing the same anxious thought.

"Yeah, he was born with one, like me," Goku replied. "I kinda wish I still had mine. It sure did come in handy."

Bulma glanced at Muten Roshi. He asked Goku – in a carefully worded question – if Gohan had ever seen a full moon. When Goku replied that they all went to bed a little too early for that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and pretended that there was nothing to the question at all. Pretty soon the conversation had turned to nostalgia and talk of old times, and it was quite a while before Bulma remembered her other reason for coming.

"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "I nearly forgot! There was something I wanted to show you guys, now that we're all here together."

"What's that Bulma?" Goku asked.

"Well," she began, "I suppose the best way to explain this is to show you. Now everyone stand back!" She decided to create a so-ki-dan and use it to make a nice big splash out in the ocean. That would certainly get their attention! However, before she even got the chance to focus herself, she was interrupted by a gasp from Goku. She hesitated and stared at him in surprise.

He had tensed his muscles, and his face bore a look of anxious surprise. He spun around and turned away from Bulma to stare up at the sky. He began to tremble slightly, and he unconsciously assumed a defensive posture.

"What is it Goku?" Kuririn asked him worriedly.

"I…I don't know," said Goku. "I feel somethin' up there. He's really strong, and that chi feels mean!"

Suddenly Bulma could sense this mysterious power too. Goku was right; something was definitely up there, and it was incredibly strong. It was so strong, in fact, that she felt herself begin to tremble too. She'd never felt anything so intimidating before.

"I sense it too!" said Kuririn nervously. "What do you think it is, Goku? Do you suppose it's Piccolo?"

"I don't think so," Goku said anxiously. "Not unless he's gotten a heckuva lot stronger!"

"There he is!" Bulma shrieked, and she pointed to a speck in the distance. They all watched as it grew larger and larger. Soon they could see him distinctly. Bulma guided Gohan behind her legs as they all backed up toward the Kame House, all except for Goku, who stood his ground. Gohan peeked around her legs in curiosity as a strange man with long, bushy black hair landed on the sand in front of Goku.

Bulma's muscles tensed as she eyed their visitor warily. He was sizing Goku up, and he didn't seem at all disturbed by the many pairs of eyes gaping at him. What on earth could he have come for?

"Who are you?" Goku demanded. "Why are you here?" He kept his guard up as he spoke, and he didn't relax a muscle when the strange man only gave him a sneer in reply.

"He resembles you, Goku," Bulma said. "Have you ever seen him before?"

"No, never," Goku replied. He studied the strange man for a moment, and then he gave a start. "Hey, wait a minute!" he gasped, pointing to the newcomer's midsection. "He has a tail!"

The strange man laughed. "Have you recognized me now?" he said with a sinister grin. "It's about damn time. You act as though you don't even know how to recognize another Saiyan when you see one, Kakkarot."

"Huh?" said Goku, obviously perplexed. "Kakkarot? I think you've got me confused with someone else. My name is Goku. And what is a Saiyan? And who are you?"

"'What is a Saiyan?'" the stranger exclaimed. "Stop babbling nonsense! What a fool question to ask! A Saiyan is what we are, Kakkarot – what you are! Do you honestly expect me to believe you don't know this?"

"Sorry, but I don't," Goku replied. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's as simple as the tail on your... wait a minute! Where is your tail Kakkarot?! What has happened to it?"

Goku was obviously bewildered. "Why?" he asked angrily. "What's the big deal, anyway?"

"Tell me, Kakkorot!" the stranger roared.

"It was removed for good a long time ago," Goku replied, scratching his head but glaring at the stranger angrily. "What are you so upset about, anyway?"

"You fool!" the stranger cried. "No wonder you haven't completed your mission! You allowed the source of your greatest power to be taken away from you! Now you can't transform in the light of a full moon!" He looked as if he were about to explode from his anger. However, after taking a few angry breaths, he managed to cool himself down. Savagely cursing and shaking his head, he let out an angry sigh.

"Oh well," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "What's done is done. Now, Kakkorot, what do you mean 'what is a Saiyan?' How could you forget such a thing? Did something happen to you when you were young? Did you take a blow to the head or something?"

"Well, yes," Goku replied, more puzzled than ever. "But why…"

"You idiot! You must have forgotten your mission too! No wonder you don't know who I am! Well, let me refresh your memory, Kakkorot. I am your big brother, Raditz."

"What?!" Goku said, taken aback. "My brother? But, that's impossible! I don't have a brother!"

"Oh, but you do," Raditz said, his face cracking into a frustrated grin. "And there's much more. You are from the planet Vegita. You are a Saiyan - a space warrior. The place you've so foolishly considered your home all this time is not your real home at all."

"I don't believe you," Goku shot at him angrily. "I've lived here all my life."

"Goku," Muten Roshi said quietly, "There's something your grandfather told me once that I think you should hear." He told them all about how Goku was found by Son Gohan in a little space pod when he was a baby, and what a holy terror he was before he bumped his head.

"I came from outer space?" Goku said in disbelief. The turtle hermit nodded. Goku turned back to Raditz with a look of pure disbelief. "Let's say what you're telling me is true. If I came from this other planet, then why am I here now?"

"We Saiyans are what you might call in the real estate business," Raditz chuckled. "We send our warriors out to hospitable planets so that we can make them ideal climates for our customers who want planets of their own. To planets with powerful inhabitants, we send powerful warriors to clean them up. To weak planets like this one, we send our children to do the job for us. You were one such baby. Your mission was to eradicate all life on this planet so that it would be hospitable for our customers. There are still just as many of these pathetic earthlings here as there were when you landed, if not more so. Although you've disgraced yourself and me, I'm going to give you one chance to redeem yourself, Kakkorot. Not long ago, our home planet was destroyed by a comet. Only four of us Saiyans were away when it hit. You are one of the four. It just so happens that our next target planet has inhabitants that are particularly lethal, and we would welcome another member to our team. You can see why we need every available man, so I'll cut you a little slack. Get rid of these puny earthlings and join your Saiyan brethren. We are willing to overlook your past mistakes provided you perform your mission now."

"Ha!" Kuririn jeered. "This guy's obviously had too much of the bottle. C'mon, buddy; we don't really like it when you drunks stop by the island." He walked up in front of Raditz and waved him away. "Allow me to show you the way off."

Suddenly Raditz unwound his tail from around his waist. It began to glow with a yellow aura.

"Kuririn, watch out!" Goku yelled. He was too late. With one strike of his tail, Raditz slammed Kuririn in the face, sending him flying – horizontally – past them and right through the front of the Kame House. One of his legs twitched a little as it hung out of the new hole. Other than that, Kuririn didn't move.

"Kuririn!" Bulma cried, horrified by what Raditz had done. Glaring angrily at Raditz, Bulma's temper began to flare as she marched away from the safety of Goku's rear flank and made her way toward Raditz.

"How dare you!" she snarled, all thoughts of suppressing her chi having been forgotten. "You're nothing but a beast! Get the hell out of here!"

Raditz sneered at her and his tail wiggled menacingly. "Don't make me angry," he said, taking a step closer. "That is, unless you're willing to share in his punishment."

"I'd like to see you try it, you smelly, hairy ape!" she growled, balling her hands into fists and adopting a more guarded posture. "You just try that and you'll be missing a tail!"

Goku placed his hand on her shoulder. "Knock it off, Bulma. This guy isn't going to back down from someone like you," he told her. She realized suddenly that she had let her anger get the better of her judgment, and that Goku was absolutely right. There was no way she could hold her own against someone like this. Suppressing her chi so quickly that it felt like she was deflating a balloon, she stepped back away from Raditz and glanced at Goku sheepishly. He looked back at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Did that look mean that he had sensed the increase in her chi? She wasn't sure, but at this point, it didn't make any difference. She retreated, albeit unwillingly, and joined Roshi and Gohan in their place behind Goku.

"I hope Goku clobbers that brute!" she grumbled, and she walked over to Kuririn, who was just beginning to recover from his encounter with the Kame house. "Are you alright, Kuririn?" she asked, helping him out of the side of the house.

"Yeah, but I wish I could say the same about Muten Roshi's house," he replied, brushing himself off. "Be careful of him, Goku. That guy's not normal." He and Bulma turned their attention toward Goku and Raditz and saw that Goku was poised to strike at Raditz at the drop of a pin. Apparently Goku had had enough. Gohan clung to Bulma's leg, watching the newcomer with some degree of awe, as well as a good bit of fear.

"Come now, brother," Raditz jeered at Goku. "You can't tell me that you'd rather protect these pathetic weaklings than join us. Imagine what you've been missing - Countless battles all over the universe against some of the most powerful races imaginable! Doesn't it make your Saiyan blood stir? You've missed out on all the glory for so many years, but it's not too late to start over. What do you say, brother? Join us!"

Goku didn't hesitate to reply. "And if I refuse?" he said angrily.

"Then we have no use for you, and you'll be destroyed, along with the rest of the weaklings on this backwater planet. I warn you now, Brother. We have no use for simpering fools. If you don't choose wisely, it will be your end."

Gohan broke away from Bulma and ran over to Goku, wrapping his arms tightly around his father's leg. "You won't go with him, will you, daddy?" he asked Goku with tears in his eyes.

"Get back, Gohan!" Goku hissed, trying to push him away. "My answer is no!" he said to Raditz.

Raditz glanced at Gohan and chuckled sinisterly. "That's quite a shame," he sighed. "Still, if you won't join us, then perhaps we can negotiate a trade. Is that whelp your brat?"

Goku glanced down at Gohan and a flicker of fear flashed in his eyes. "No!" he barked.

"Oh, give me some credit, Kakkarot," Raditz chuckled. "How many children are born on this planet with Saiyan tails? If you won't join us, perhaps we should take the boy and train him instead. He might make a decent Saiyan, even if his father was a failure."

"Try it and I'll kill you!" Goku snarled at him. "You stay the hell away from him!"

"Oh, come on, brother," Raditz said, sounding only slightly annoyed. "You couldn't defeat me on your best day. I don't think you have much choice."

"We'll see," Goku said coldly. He picked up Gohan and handed him to Bulma. He turned back toward Raditz as Gohan began to wail in protest and struggle in her arms. Bulma was surprised by how strong Gohan was, even if he was Goku's son. She was having a great deal of difficulty in holding him still.

"All right, Raditz. If you're going to destroy me you'd better do it now, because I refuse to harm a single inhabitant of this planet for your 'customers,' whoever they may be," Goku snarled. He poised himself to attack.

"You poor fool," Raditz said, grinning. "You really do think you can beat me, don't you?" He pressed a button on the apparatus attached to his ear. A figure flashed on the green screen in front of his left eye. "Just as I thought," he said, shaking his head and smirking. "Your chi power is pitiful, even by Saiyan standards. You won't last beyond the first strike, Brother."

"He must need that little gadget to gage the strength of his opponent," Bulma thought to herself. "I wonder how accurate it is, considering the fact that Goku isn't really fired up yet. I hope he's got a lot of power in reserve. This Raditz guy is definitely bad news."

Suddenly Goku attacked. Bulma was barely able to follow his speedy movements, but she was able to see the results. Raditz made a swift counterattack, which immediately launched Goku out into the surf. He cried aloud in pain as he clutched his stomach and cringed in the shallow water. In her surprise, Bulma loosened her hold on Gohan, and he broke free to run to his father, crying in fear and concern. Laughing, Raditz snatched Gohan up by his shirt and held him up for Goku to see.

"Let him go!" Goku begged him, holding an arm up toward his son.

"You may have him back after you kill 100 earthlings," Raditz said. "Pile the bodies here, and I will be back in one days' time to examine your work. Hell, you can even get your friends here to help you if you want. If you do as I ask, the boy will be spared, and so will you. If you don't, you both die. Until tomorrow, brother! I think it's high time your son gets to know his uncle!" With that, Raditz took to the sky with Gohan in tow, who was bawling his scared little head off.

"No!" Goku shouted desperately. With some effort he managed to struggle to his feet, but he quickly stumbled and fell back to his knees. "Bring him back!"

Bulma wanted more than anything to take off after Raditz, but the realization of the vast difference between her power and that of her adversary made her hesitate. She stared helplessly at Goku as she wondered whatever she could say to console him.

"I'm gonna find you, Gohan," he growled. "Somehow, I'm gonna bring you back."

"Goku..." she sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"Bulma, do you have your dragon radar with you?" he asked her. She blinked a couple of times before pulling out her capsule case and digging out one of her travel capsules.

"Yes," she told him. "Why do you... oh! The dragonball on Gohan's hat! That's right!"

"With the radar, you won't have trouble finding them, at least," Kuririn muttered. "As for beating that musclebound bully, I wish it would be that easy."

"Well, if it comes down to it, Goku, you should know that I'll give you all the help I can," the turtle hermit cried, stepping forward and staring boldly at him. "Kuririn too."

"What? Er... well, yeah," Kuririn agreed rather shakily. "Maybe if we all worked together we might... just... win?"

"No, you two can't come along for this," Goku groaned, standing upright and sighing angrily. "You've both already died once before and been brought back by Shenlon. He won't revive someone twice."

"Oh yeah..." Kuririn replied, his hopeful expression falling dramatically. "Well... I guess I'm still in. What are pals for, right?" he looked down in fearful anger as he realized that he had never even gotten himself a girlfriend, much less realized his dream of getting married one day.

"Let's face facts, guys," Bulma sighed. "If Goku couldn't handle this guy, I don't think it'd help much if you two went along. He's way better than both of you, isn't he? I don't know, Goku. I have a terrible feeling that you may have met your match this time."

"Quite the astute observation," someone said above them. They all glanced up and gasped in horror. Hovering up above them was none other than Piccolo!

"Man, when it rains it pours," Kuririn gulped, backing off a bit as Piccolo floated down to the ground and glared stonily at Goku.

"What do you want, Piccolo?" Goku asked him, eying the green-skinned member of the demon clan warily.

"I followed your brother here," he replied. "I had an encounter with him earlier, and I thought it might be in my best interests to see what he was up to. At any rate, I can see that he may pose a problem."

"I was just about to go after him myself," Goku said, glancing over at the dragon radar, which was still in Bulma's hand. "He took my son. I have to stop him."

Piccolo sneered. "Feh. I care not what happens to your brat, Son, but I too wish to pursue this menace. Much as I hate to admit it, I - like you - will have no chance if I try to fight him alone," he said dryly. "I think we should join forces for now. His power is much stronger than anything I've ever sensed before, and it will take the two of us to defeat him."

Goku's eyebrows shot up in surprise as the gravity of Piccolo's offer hit him like a ton of bricks. He stared at his mortal enemy in surprise, while he received a resentful stare in return.

"Do not think that I have changed my intentions toward you, or toward my plans for conquering the earth," he said, baring his teeth. "I'm only offering to join you because unless we join forces, Raditz will thwart my plans himself, and I will not allow that. Rest assured that when we have dispatched your brother, you will be next."

Goku grinned. "I'll bet it's eating you alive to have to do this," he chuckled wryly. "I accept your offer, Piccolo, and I understand your terms. When this is over, we'll go back to hating each other's guts."

Piccolo sneered at him in reply, but did not say anything in return. He waited as Goku walked over to Bulma and held out his hand.

"Bulma," he said, frowning at her, "we need to use your dragon radar."

"All right, Goku," she agreed, handing it to him. "Here. Please be careful. Don't die out there."

Goku grinned, and he yelled for Kinto'un. He leapt onto the yellow cloud as it swooped down to him, and then he and Piccolo took off after Raditz.

"Man, I don't like this," Kuririn griped. "It's bad enough for Goku to have to fight Raditz, but when they're done with that, he'll have to fight Piccolo too. We ought to go after 'em in case they need help."

"I don't think we'd be all that much help to them," Bulma sighed. "Those two are way out of our league, Kuririn."

"Bulma's right," Muten Roshi said, sadly shaking his head. "We could only, at the most, serve as a distraction to Raditz. It's far more likely, however, that he'd use us as a way to get to Goku. Much as I hate it, m'boy, we don't have a place in this battle."

"Well, we can't just stay here," Kuririn said angrily. "What if something happens to Goku? I want to be there in case things go wrong."

Bulma had been thinking the same thing. "Well, come on," she said. "Let's follow them in my air car. I remember where that dragonball stopped, so I think I can find where they're going. By the time we get to them, it's pretty certain that they'll have had enough time to fight, don't you think?"

They both liked that idea. In no time at all they had piled into Bulma's car and had taken off for the battlefield.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Goku's Gone**

For the first hour, the three didn't say much. Although Kuririn and the turtle hermit weren't aware of it, Bulma was mentally tracing the chis of the fighters, just like they were. She had recently become very concerned. Goku's chi seemed really weak, but on the plus side, Raditz was nowhere to be found, so she hoped that meant that he was defeated. Naturally, she wasn't all that worried about Piccolo, but the fact that he felt stronger than Goku had her very upset. Although her chi sense wasn't really good enough to afford her a play by play narrative of the fight that had occurred, she guessed that Piccolo's attacks had been the deciding factors, and that it was because of him that Raditz and Goku were now in the shape that they were in. She couldn't feel Gohan, but he hadn't felt all that strong anyway, so that could mean anything. Still, guesses weren't always reality. Bulma could only wonder what had happened until they arrived at the battle site. She sighed as she wondered if she ought to break the ice. She knew that Kuririn and Muten Roshi must have been just as worried as she was.

"What do you think we will find when we get there?" She asked them. "Anything could have happened by now."

"I don't know," said Muten Roshi, "but I think it's in our favor. I can't sense Raditz at all. I'm glad about that, because if he hasn't been defeated it'll be up to me to finish him."

"I would hate to put the fate of the world on your wrinkly shoulders, you old pervert," Bulma said, grinning.

She laughed, and Kuririn did his best to stifle a chuckle while his master shot Bulma a resentful glare. Even so, her comment had done little to lighten the mood. The thought of the battle ran rampant in their minds. Fortunately, they didn't have much farther to go. Thanks to Bulma's abilities, she was able to guide them to their destination without any backtracking whatsoever, not to mention any help from the boys. Kuririn stared at her in disbelief.

"Gee, Bulma," he said, impressed. "You'd think you could sense chi too! How did you find them so quickly? You didn't even ask us to see which way to go."

"Heh-heh!" she chuckled mysteriously. "Didn't I tell you that I saw where Gohan's dragonball wound up? Me, being able to sense people like you guys do? Don't be silly, Kuririn!" She was too nervous about what they were going to find to want to explain herself to Kuririn and Roshi just yet. That could wait until later.

Kuririn seem to accept her excuse. "Look guys!" He said excitedly. "It looks like Raditz is down!"

"Yeah, but so is Goku," Bulma said worriedly. They landed a couple yards away from the crater where the battle must have taken place, and they all piled out of the car to check on Goku. They were mortified to see a huge, gaping hole in his stomach. Bulma covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a scream, and Kuririn just stared at Goku, shaking and not daring to believe what he saw. As they crouched around their friend, he stirred and gave them a weak smile. He was still alive, but only barely.

"Hey guys," he said weakly. "I guess... I won't be making it... this time."

"Don't talk like that Goku," Kuririn said, kneeling at his friend's side and trying to restrain his tears. "You'll be fine. You always are."

"Heh," Goku laughed feebly. "Dying sucks, doesn't it, Kuririn?"

"Don't worry, Goku," Muten Roshi said. "We'll have you back in no time. We'll wish you back. Right guys?" Kuririn and Bulma nodded emphatically.

"See?" Roshi said, smiling at Goku. "Then when you're back we can get back to normal. Raditz did kind of interrupt something important you know. I won't forgive you if you don't come back and eat barbecue with us, Goku."

"There's... another thing," Goku gasped, flinching in pain as it became harder and harder to breathe. "Piccolo... tell 'em... what Raditz said..."

They looked at Piccolo, who was standing off to one side and watching them quietly. Bulma flinched when she noticed that he was missing most of his left arm. This had been a serious battle indeed.

"He told us that we can expect two more of his kind in one year's time," he told them, after pausing for a moment to consider whether he'd do what Goku asked or not. "They will both be his superior in strength. They have heard from us what the dragonballs can do, thanks to that scouter on his ear. They will come here to collect the dragonballs and make their wish, before finishing what Raditz failed to do."

"Two... two more of those guys?" Bulma gasped. "Stronger than Raditz? You can't be serious!"

"Wish me back soon!" Goku gasped. "We only... have... a year..." He let out a final gasp before his body gave a shudder, and he fell still. Kuririn gave him a shake, but it was no use. He was gone.

"Goku!" he screamed, clutching Goku's hand in his own and letting his tears fall freely. "No!"

Bulma shed a few tears of her own, and while she was wiping her eyes, she saw Gohan lying off to one side. She left the unhappy scene to go retrieve him, and when she had brought him back to the group, she saw something very strange occur. Goku's body seemed to just fade out, as though it was a hologram or something. She, Kuririn, and the turtle hermit all shared a gasp, but Piccolo gave a snort.

"This must be Kami's doing," he snorted derisively. "He must have some plans for Son in the afterlife."

"Kami-sama?" Kuririn asked him. "Do you think so?"

Gohan stirred a bit in Bulma's arms, and his hat fell off. Bulma sighed as she picked it up and stared at the four-star ball on it. "Oh well," she sighed. "Here's our first one. You take this and hold onto it, old man," she said, handing the hat to Muten Roshi. "I'm gonna take Gohan back to Chichi and give them the unhappy news."

"Give the brat to me," Piccolo ordered her. It was not a request. Bulma stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.

"Say what?" she said, eying him warily. "Care to run that by me again?"

"I'm taking him with me," Piccolo said. "He displayed an incredible amount of power during our battle, although he can't control it yet. I believe that, under the right training, he will be a powerful ally in the upcoming battle."

"No way!" Kuririn exclaimed. "I don't believe it for a second! I know what's really going on here! You just want to eat him!"

Piccolo gave a start. "Ea... eat him?!" he sputtered. "Don't be an imbecile!"

Bulma stared in disbelief at Gohan. She couldn't sense anything in him at the moment. He was out cold. Could Piccolo have been telling the truth? "I don't think we can trust you with Goku's son," she told him, holding him more tightly to her as she backed away a couple of steps. "You aren't exactly on the best of terms with the Son family."

"You have a choice," he growled at her. "Either give the boy to me, or I kill you and take him anyway. Either way he is coming with me. I'm not asking; I'm telling."

Bulma scowled as she realized that he was right. He was way out of her league right now, and the same went for the old pervert and Kuririn. Even if they tried to stop him, it wouldn't make any difference. "If you harm him, there'll be hell to pay when we wish Goku back," she warned him, stepping forward and reluctantly handing him the sleeping child. "You'd better be on the level about this, Piccolo."

He shot her a wicked sneer as he tucked Gohan under one arm. "You'll just have to wait a year to find out, I suppose," he chuckled at her. "So will Son. When he comes back to life, you may feel free to tell him what I have done, and that he's welcome to try to stop me. I would relish the opportunity to kill him a second time. Still," he added, his face becoming slightly more serious as he floated up into the air and stared down at them from above. "Placing the boy in my hands will be more advantageous than returning him to his father. I will give him my own brand of training, which is sure to be much more rigorous and effective than the mollycoddling he can expect from his soft-hearted family. You be sure to tell him that as well!" Without another word, Piccolo flew off, leaving them there with open mouths and a great deal of misgivings.

"How could you do that, Bulma?" Kuririn moaned. "Why did you just give Gohan over to him like that? Chichi's gonna kill us!"

"Because," Bulma snapped at him, "I wasn't going to be able to stop him from taking him anyway. None of us were. Besides, as frightening as Piccolo is, I don't think that he'll really hurt Gohan. Don't forget that this is his planet too. I think he'll make good on his claim to train him, because deep down he knows that without all the help we can get, we won't be able to win in the fight coming up. Maybe he's got something sinister planned, but for the moment, we can't do anything to stop him. All we can do is gather the dragonballs and wish Goku back. I suggest we get started."

"Well, even if Piccolo won't harm him, we still have to tell Chichi that her husband is dead, and her son was taken by Piccolo. She's going to fly off the deep end!" Kuririn groaned. "At least if we'd put up a fight and gotten beaten up, she might believe that we had no choice. We can't just tell her that we handed her baby over to that demon!"

"Something tells me that no matter how beaten up we are, it wouldn't matter to Chichi," Bulma sighed. "Anyway, what do you mean 'we' still have to tell her?" She and Muten Roshi eyed Kuririn slyly. "We only need one person to tell her, after all."

"What do you…" Kuririn began. Then he realized what she was driving at. "Oh, no! Huh-uh! I won't do it! She'll kill me!" he exclaimed, backing away from Bulma and his master.

"Oh, come on, Kuririn! Chichi likes you a lot! And besides, you're a highly trained martial arts expert. Do you mean to tell me that you're afraid of one little woman?" she chided him, secretly glad now that he didn't know she was also a martial artist, so that her argument held more credence. She certainly didn't want to be the one to face the hot-tempered woman!

"If you mean Chichi you're damn right I am! I wouldn't cross her for anything!" Kuririn exclaimed. "If she's so insignificant why don't you tell her then?"

"Kuririn, I'm ashamed of you," Muten Roshi said, trying not to laugh as he adjusted his shades. "That's not the attitude of a true warrior. I suppose all your training with me was a waste of my time if you're willing to back down from such an insignificant challenge."

Kuririn could see that he was outnumbered. He gave an irritated sigh. "You're both cowards!" he said angrily. "And you both owe me big for this! You hear me?"

Bulma sighed. "Alright, fine. Just try to break it to her gently, and don't forget to get the other two dragonballs from their house, will you please? I suppose she'll be willing to give them to you considering the circumstances."

Shaking his head in disgust, Kuririn flew off to carry out his unpleasant task. Bulma giggled as she watched him disappear in the distance.

"Poor Kuririn!" she said to Muten Roshi. "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes! I sure hope he forgives us for this!"

"Oh, don't worry. He'll have forgotten all about it soon. We'll all be too busy hunting dragonballs to dwell on things like that," Roshi said.

"I guess you're right," Bulma sighed, remembering the fun and danger they'd all found on their various dragonball excursions in the past. She decided that although she was going to have a hard time getting over Son-kun's death, she would definitely enjoy the adventure of hunting down the dragonballs again. She could keep her mind off Yamucha, and maybe she'd find a good opportunity to show off her new abilities to Kuririn and Muten Roshi. She wondered what they would say. The thought that they might be disappointed that she hadn't been willing to go after Raditz like they were crossed her mind, and she felt herself frown a little. That certainly wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Come on," Roshi said suddenly. "Let's go now. We might as well get prepared."

A thought occurred to Bulma as she glanced at Raditz one last time. "Hang on a second, Roshi," she said, running to Raditz' lifeless form. "I'd like to get a good look at this scouter of his," she explained, as she bent down and unfastened the gadget from the Saiyan's ear. She fumbled around with the buttons until a strange figure appeared on its screen. "I'm not sure if they're still able to hear what we're saying," she muttered. "Well, just in case..."

She stood up and put the scouter over her ear. "I'm saying this to the two Saiyans Raditz mentioned," she said loudly, her expression grave and her gaze unwavering. "If you think you're going to get a chance to make a wish with the dragonballs, you have another thing coming. I'm Bulma Briefs, and I will make it my mission to keep the dragonballs from ending up in the hands of creeps like Raditz and you!"

The turtle hermit just stared at her as though she was a different person. "Bulma," he gasped. "What on earth are you doing? Are you trying to make them come even faster?"

She chuckled. "I have a feeling they didn't hear it anyway," she said with a grin. "I can't quite understand what the symbols on this screen means, but the way this little one is blinking makes me think of a warning light of some kind. I'm pretty sure this thing is broken. Still, in the off-chance that it was working, I thought I'd give those two bastards a taste of what to expect. I'm not messing around, Roshi. For what they've done to Son-kun, I'm gonna see to it they don't get things their way. I may have to leave the fighting to Goku and the others, but I have talents too!"

Chuckling again, she took the scouter off of her ear and opened up her portable tool case. She picked out a screwdriver and used it to open the scouter's casing. She was surprised to see that the circuitry was advanced, but not illogical. "I'll have to reprogram this so that I can use it to measure chi like they do, but in our number system," she muttered aloud. "Maybe we can gain an advantage if we know just what exactly they're relying on." She turned and slowly walked toward her air car, mumbling advice and observations to herself as she went.

Roshi followed her, chuckling. Bulma was in her element now. She would be busy for hours with that thing. Still, it had been unsettling to hear her speak out a challenge like that. He'd never known Bulma to be so gutsy, even if her enemies _were_ a year away.

- - - - -

Elsewhere, on a planet a great distance from Earth, the two Saiyans, Nappa and Vegita, were resting from their efforts and listening to the feed from Raditz' scouter. Vegita turned his off and gave an angry snort.

"Raditz failed," Nappa grumbled. "The earthlings killed him."

"Feh. He was a fool, and a weak one at that," Vegita said with a scowl. "Good riddance to trash like him, I say. Still, at least we got to hear something good."

"You mean the dragonballs?" Nappa asked him. "Are we gonna wish him back?"

"Don't be an idiot," Vegita snapped at him, grinning sinisterly. "Imagine it, Nappa. Eternal life with eternal youth! We could continue fighting and conquering for eternity!"

"That's right!" he chuckled. "What a life that'd be!"

"Let the fools think they can prepare for our arrival," he chuckled. "That fool woman will be eating her words when we reach her planet! No matter how many weaklings they throw at us, they're going to find that their doom has come to them in the end. Forget this job; we won't be taking orders from anyone after we make our wish!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Giant Monkey of Doom**

Bulma sighed and sat back in her chair as she massaged her sore wrists. It had taken her all night and most of today, but she had finally gotten the scouter to show chi values in terms of digital numbers. She tried it out on Kuririn and Muten Roshi and nearly fell over laughing when she compared the numbers to what Raditz had measured on Son-kun yesterday. She wondered what her own value would register. She would have to check it later.

Bulma wiped a tear from her eye and managed to stop chuckling. She had needed a good laugh. The whole day had been a disaster. Kuririn had chickened out on telling Chichi the whereabouts of her family, and she had followed him to the island when he had left the Son house the next morning, much to everyone's dismay. She had been expecting to find her son and her husband there, but had found some bad news instead.

Even now, some three or four hours later, they were all still reeling from Chichi's reaction to their explanation. Bulma had never been happier to see two friends leave her company. Chichi had all but torn Roshi's house apart when she had heard that they had let Piccolo take her baby. She couldn't have cared less about Goku, however. As far as she was concerned, he was to blame for the whole affair. To make matters worse, in all the confusion and uneasiness they had forgotten to ask her for the other dragonballs. The whole thing had been a nightmare, and they were finally taking it easy at Roshi's house. Bulma breathed a sigh of contentment. It had taken her a long time to figure that scouter out, but she felt it had been an effort well spent. It was comforting to know that her enemies had to rely on such devices to sense the strength and location of their opponents. It was a small advantage, but she would take any that she could get.

She was toying with the idea of testing the scouter out on herself when she heard a capsule car land outside. She heard some heavy footfalls on the sand before there was a loud beating noise, coupled by a brusque voice bellowing at them from outside the screen door.

"Hey!" the person yelled belligerently. "Anybody home in this dump? Come on now, I ain't got all day, y'know!"

"Now who in the world could be so rude?" Kuririn asked as they all walked to the door. He opened it to reveal a short, fat man with a sword.

"Hey, I know you!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You're uh… um… Yabbo-someone?"

"I'm Yajirobe, you dummy!" he said angrily. "I'm supposed to tell you to report to Karin tower for special training. And you need to bring Yamucha, that Tenshin guy, and Chaozu with you too."

"Who's going to train us?" Kuririn asked him, a spark of curiosity flashing in his eyes. This was certainly a very unexpected turn of events.

"Kami," Yajirobe bragged. "Yeah, he's going to train me, you, and the others personally. He wants us to be ready to fight the other two Saiyans when they come."

"Wow!" Bulma exclaimed. "Personal training from Kami-sama himself! What an honor!"

"Yeah!" Kuririn breathed. Yajirobe turned to walk back to his air car.

"Oh, one more thing," he said, turning back around. "Don't wish Goku back with the dragonballs yet."

"Why not?" Bulma asked, poking her head out of the door and staring at him in surprise.

"He's trainin' in Hell," Yajirobe replied, shrugging and turning back towards his car. "Just be sure you don't keep Kami waiting for too long," he shot back as he hopped into the small, overloaded vehicle. "It wouldn't be too polite, y'know!" With that, he sped away.

"Ha!" Bulma laughed. "I'll bet that guy knows a lot about being polite!"

"Bulma," Kuririn said excitedly, "where's Yamucha? I can't wait to tell him the news!"

"He could be anywhere right now," she replied, thinking for a moment. "I don't think we could find him if we looked today, but I think he said he has a big game tomorrow night in the city. I'm sure he'll be there. I think we should wait until tomorrow to round everyone up anyway. It's getting pretty late in the day, and we ought to get some sleep tonight. Especially you, Kuririn. I know this day has been pretty rough on you, after the whole Chichi business."

"I agree with Bulma," Roshi said. "Let's just take it easy until tomorrow evening. You'll be more alert then anyway."

"Now that you mention it, I am a little tired," Kuririn said, yawning. "Oh well. Let's go in and watch some TV. I wonder if anything good is on."

They blew the rest of the evening on Roshi's sofa watching a cheesy monster film marathon and talking about what they had all liked best about Goku. Bulma had completely forgotten about testing the scouter out on herself. Oh well. She'd have plenty of time to do that later. It's not as though the number would mean a whole lot to her, aside from comparing it to Kuririn's and the old pervert's.

Hours later, they turned off the TV and forced themselves to get off the sofa. It was already dark outside, and Bulma was exhausted beyond belief. Kuririn and Muten Roshi didn't appear very energetic either. They all decided to call it a day and go to bed. Kuririn and the old man slept in the Kame house, but Bulma had decided to sleep outside under the stars in her air car. There were plenty of places to sleep in the house, but after spending so many nights out in the desert with Yamucha during their longer training sessions, she had grown fond of sleeping out under the stars on warm, comfortable nights like this. She opened the skylight and reclined the driver's seat. Yawning sleepily, she gazed up at the moon and blinked her weary eyes.

"Wow!" she mumbled. "What a lovely full moon!" As she drifted off, she vaguely remembered that there had been something said recently about a full moon…

She was nearly asleep when the significance of her thoughts hit her. She shot into awareness and jumped out of her car. Gohan! She had to get to Piccolo before it was too late! Had he been at the Kame House long enough to hear Raditz talk about the transformation of a Saiyan under the full moon? She didn't want to take the chance. She didn't have any great love for Piccolo, but if Gohan transformed and killed him, they'd end up with a rampaging monster on their hands, and a lot of lives could be lost. Like a bullet she shot into the air. Straining with all her might, she scanned the horizon for Piccolo's chi. She finally found it. It was about 100 miles away to the east.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to reveal my abilities to the last person I'd have expected to see them first," she said dryly as she flew towards the source of the chi. She wondered what Piccolo would think when he saw someone he thought to be normal - by human standards, at least - fly up to him as if it were as normal as could be. Oh well. She was going to find out in a few minutes. She hoped his policy wasn't attack first and ask questions later. He was part of the demon clan, after all, and it didn't seem likely that his kind appreciated social calls.

- - - - -

Piccolo watched silently as Gohan slept on the rock column. He glanced down at the dinosaur waiting at its base, and he mused that if Gohan were to learn to control his powers, he'd be the one stalking the dinosaur. Gohan shivered. He still hadn't found the apples Piccolo had left him. Had it been a form of weakness to give him those? Piccolo weighed the similarity of ensuring the survival of his protegé vs. feeling as though he'd grown soft because of one lousy kid. He watched with a scowl as Gohan woke up and discovered the apples. While he ate them, Piccolo flew back a few hundred feet so as to observe him from a less conspicuous distance. He didn't want the kid to see him. He wanted him to feel total seclusion.

Suddenly Piccolo sensed the approach of a new chi. He faced the direction of the oncoming power, and in doing so he turned his back on the rock column. "Who could it be?" he wondered silently, his lips curling back a little to reveal his fangs as he grit his teeth in irritated confusion. This island was miles away from anyone. That had been the main reason for his choosing it for Gohan's training grounds. Whoever was coming must have been looking for him. Although the power he felt from the unwelcome visitor felt pitifully low, he silently braced himself for battle. That chi was weak, but it was strong enough to belong to a fighter, and unless that unlucky person had a damned good reason for visiting him, he'd better be prepared to die.

When Bulma first became somewhat discernible in the distance, Piccolo wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. When she was close enough to be recognizable, he would never have been able put the degree of his surprise into words!

Bulma could see Piccolo in the distance. She flew to him as fast as she could, forgetting for a moment that he was unaware of her ability to fly. She saw him brace himself for an attack, and she suddenly realized that he probably didn't have any idea that she was coming to save his skin. Not wanting him to attack her, she slowed down quite a bit and approached him more easily, although she was more than a bit impatient. She stopped about five feet away from him.

"Piccolo!" she exclaimed. "Where's Gohan? I'm not too late, am I?"

"Too late for what?" he asked, still unsure of what to make of this oddity before him. "I demand that you explain yourself at once, or I will destroy you where you are!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" she sighed in relief, so happy to hear something so normal from him that she didn't bother to care that it was a death threat. "It must not have happened. He must be asleep. Piccolo, listen to me very carefully. It's absolutely necessary that you don't let Gohan see the full moon. It's his tail. I don't know how long you were at Muten Roshi's, so you may not know this, but Gohan is part-Saiyan, so whatever you do, you can't let him see the moon! When a Saiyan with a tail looks at the full moon…"

A roar in the distance unexpectedly cut her off. The frightening memories of her past with Son Goku informed a very horrified Bulma that she was all-too familiar with that sound!

"Oh, Kami-sama help us!" Bulma wailed, raising a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening in fear at the horrifying, familiar spectacle in the distance behind Piccolo. "I'm too late! He's transformed!"

"What the hell?" Piccolo spun around to see what she was babbling about, and his eyes fell upon an even greater shock than seeing Bulma fly. Gohan had become a giant monkey – an oozaru!

"What the…" Piccolo gasped, bracing himself to take off toward Gohan. Bulma seized his arm and held him back.

"Wait, Piccolo!" she cried. "You don't know what you're getting into! He's even stronger than Raditz was! We've got to go about this the right way, and get rid of that tail! As long as it's in the moonlight he'll be unstoppable. You have more fighting experience than I do; do you think you could distract him long enough for me to get a good shot at his tail?"

Piccolo was too surprised by the recent turn of events to realize that she had laid hands upon him – an act for which he would normally have obliterated lesser people. He glanced at Gohan again and grit his teeth.

"I can if you can get in close enough without letting him hear you," he growled at her, as Gohan smashed the column of rock and dropped the ground. "Are you capable of that?"

"I'm sure I can do it, but it's imperative that he not see me. These beasts are really crafty. You'll really have to keep him occupied."

"Very well," Piccolo said. "I'll do my part, so you'd better not foul up yours!" He took off to attract Gohan's attention while Bulma hesitated a moment to make sure the great beast wasn't going to turn around and see her. Piccolo began swooping at Gohan and shot off some warning blasts near his face. Roaring angrily, Gohan swept his paws through the air in an effort to swat Piccolo out of the sky. That was her cue.

Bulma flew around some twenty or thirty yards behind Gohan and focused her chi as rapidly as she could. She would use a so-ki-dan. She had deadly accuracy with those, and she could use them from a distance. She had just concentrated enough energy when she heard a loud, angry yell from Piccolo. Gohan had managed to grab him and was crushing him with his massive hands. It was now or never. Grunting with the effort, she directed the potent energy ball at the base of Gohan's tail. He must have heard her however, because he jumped at the last second, and she had to strain to redirect the flight path of her projectile. She chased Gohan desperately with the zigzagging blast, her face paling as she noticed that although he was dodging her so-ki-dan, he was glaring at her with malevolent, red eyes all the while.

All at once, he did a somersault, and he flung Piccolo right into the flight path of her blast. Poor Piccolo took it head-on, and he let out an angry yell as it exploded on contact. Bulma let out a frightened scream as Gohan forgot him and directed his rage at her. He leaped after her, and she began darting to and fro as quickly and erratically as she could, barely escaping his hands as he tried to slap her between them like an insect. He was so fast! How could anything that huge be so nimble?

Suddenly he clipped her with the tips of the fingers on one of his hands, but it was more than enough to slam Bulma into the ground. She slid a little as she landed, and the rough, rocky ground acted like a kind of hellish sandpaper as it grated against her back. Yelling in pain, Bulma opened her wincing eyes and stared up in horror as she saw Gohan lift one of his enormous feet to crush her. She knew she wasn't going to make it; she could never move out of the way in time. Just before he brought his foot down, she heard a deafening, shattering explosion.

All at once, Gohan's hair began receding and he started shrinking in size. Bulma realized that he was beginning to fall forward, and she was just in time to dart out of the way. She shot up into the air, ignoring the searing pain in her back as she watched Gohan shrink to normal. She noticed with a great deal of surprise that his tail was still very much intact and attached to his body.

"How did he…" she began, glancing around until she spied Piccolo. His arm was stretched toward the heavens, and he was panting as though he had just done something incredibly strenuous. She was trying to piece together what had happened in her mind when all at once it hit her - where was the moon? No... there was no way he'd done that... was such a thing possible? She flew up alongside Piccolo and stared up into the sky at the huge field of debris that was spreading out before them.

"You... you destroyed the moon," she gasped, completely awestruck by the sheer power it must have taken to do something so disastrous. "I can't believe it... in one blast, yet!"

"Gohan was too quick and powerful. It was easier to hit the moon than it was to hit his tail," he replied quietly. He looked down at Gohan, who was face-down and completely naked, but undeniably back to his normal-sized self.

Bulma let out a ragged sigh. "I should have known better than to take something like that on," she said through angry, gritted teeth. "To tell you the truth, I've never had practical fighting experience. This was the first time I've used any of my abilities in a life or death situation. I could have gotten us both killed, but I wasn't thinking about that. I can see that I'm going to have to be more careful in the future. Ah well," she sighed, shaking her head and glancing at Piccolo with a defeated grin. "I suppose it turned out all right anyway. The moon is gone, so this problem won't come up again. I'll leave you to Gohan's training then. Don't expect to see me here again." She turned to leave.

"Wait," Piccolo demanded. She hesitated, wondering if he was angry with her for hitting him with her so-ki-dan. He really didn't look all that worse for the wear. Shoot, his clothes weren't even torn. Still, he had never been known much for his leniency. She gulped quietly before slowly turning around and eying him warily. He had a grave expression on his face, but she wasn't sure if she could call it an angry one. He wasn't very easy to read.

"What is it?" she asked him, backing a way a bit without realizing she was doing it.

"Although it's true that you were a fool for thinking you could handle something like this at your level of ability, your coming here need not be utterly useless. Even a hopeless case like you might have the potential to improve. I don't know what kind of buffoon trained you, but you seem to at least have a basic knowledge of chi manipulation. Given the proper direction, even you might be useful in a year from now. I had intended to do a substantial amount of self-training, but I suppose I wouldn't be too hindered by another incompetent sparring partner. I suppose you could stay and work on your fighting skills. We do, after all, have a year to prepare. I suppose I may be able to help, if what they say is true, and miracles do occur."

It was remarkably harder to weigh her options than one might have thought. On the one hand, the idea of becoming Piccolo's own personal punching bag was not at all appealing to her. On the other, if she were able to remain close to him, she might be able to ensure that he didn't do anything... evil to Gohan. She was completely torn. It wasn't until she remembered that Roshi and the others would need her help to gather the dragonballs that she realized that her choice had already been made for her. Whew. She was pretty relieved, actually. She felt a little guilty for leaving Gohan like this, but at least he was all right so far. Maybe Piccolo was really serious about this training thing after all.

"Sorry," she sighed, shaking her head and trying to sound disappointed. "I'm gonna have to decline, Piccolo. Although under normal circumstances I'd jump at the chance to train under someone as skilled as you, I have some dragonballs to collect. Besides, I hadn't intended to get involved in the fight with the Saiyans. There's no way I'd be good enough to survive a fight like that with just a year's worth of training."

"It matters not to me," Piccolo grunted, turning away from her. "You're not as stupid as the others, I suppose. At least you understand how weak you are. All the same, I have to say I'm surprised. Most of the members of Son's little band usually throw themselves into the fray regardless of personal ability, if it means the fate of their friends or their entire planet. Perhaps I was mistaken in assuming you were of the same mind. No matter. If you'll excuse me, I must tend to my pampered pupil," he said, folding his arms and frowning down at Gohan. "But just in case you change your mind," he added, shooting her a sidelong glance and flashing her a cruel grin, "I'd develop some sort of secret weapon if I were you, because you'll need it if you want to fight the Saiyans. The fact that you have absolutely no practical experience shows very clearly." With that he promptly took his leave, dropping rapidly to the ground to see to Gohan.

Bulma seethed. She didn't like the way he had implied that she was a coward for not planning to fight creatures that not even he would be able to beat at his current level. Besides, she was still angry with herself for her errors in the previous skirmish with Gohan, and his rubbing it in didn't do much to better her humor. Well, she certainly didn't need his opinions, and she definitely didn't need his training!

"What a jerk!" she grumbled to herself as she took off for the Kame House. She yawned as she raced over the water. She was in a lot of pain, and she was even more exhausted than she had ever been before. She was going to sleep like a rock tonight!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: To Karin Tower**

"Hey, sleeping beauty!" someone shouted, jerking Bulma awake. "Come on, Bulma, I think you've slept in long enough now. It's time to get up. You've already slept past lunch."

"Owww," Bulma groaned, trying to peel herself out of her capsule car. Her bruised and scratched back made moving around nothing short of excruciating. Finally, she managed to stumble out. Squinting in the sun, she saw Kuririn in front of her, all decked out in his Kame gi. He looked ready for any danger the day might propel him into. He whistled.

"Boy, what happened to you?" he said when he saw her in the light.

"I must have slept funny," she lied with a grumpy scowl. "Ugh, my back is killing me!"

"Your clothes are all torn up!" he gasped as he saw her back and caught a glimpse of her nasty scratches through the shredded material.

"Huh?" she mumbled groggily as she stared down at her clothes. They were torn and dirty. Apparently the rocky ground on that island had done more than bruise her back. She was too sore, tired, and grouchy to deal with the hassle of explaining herself to Kuririn, so she figured that another lie couldn't hurt.

"I guess I was sleepwalking again," she yawned, shrugging. "Believe it or not, this happens to me a lot. Don't worry about it. Just let me get into some clean clothes and I'll be fine."

Remarkably, Kuririn appeared to buy her bogus explanation. As he followed her into the Kame house, Roshi looked up and, upon seeing Bulma, stared at her with no small degree of surprise on his face.

"Kuririn will give you my explanation, Roshi," she said, yawning again. "I'm going to go wash up."

She took a change of clothes into the bathroom with her and locked the door. Then she put a towel over the doorknob. The old man had an annoying habit of peeking in at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention. He was a harmless old man - a pervert, true - but harmless nevertheless. Still, it made her really mad when he did that, and besides, she certainly didn't want him to see these bruises. Whew! Those rocks had really done a number on her back. There were no broken bones, the bruises would disappear in a few days, and the cuts were minor, but they were everywhere! She had to hand it to Gohan. He was very fast for a huge, lumbering giant.

Kuririn was even more excited today than he had been yesterday. He fidgeted all afternoon and nearly drove Bulma crazy. When he said that Kami must have wanted to train the most promising fighters, something occurred to her. Why hadn't Kami wanted to train her too? She was nearly as good as Yamucha. She had mastered all of the moves he'd shown her, not to mention some of her own. Surely Kami had had a good reason for excluding her. Hadn't he?

The thought pestered her all afternoon. It still tugged at her mind as she left with Kuririn to pick up Yamucha. She was ashamed to admit it, but she was jealous of Kuririn and Yamucha. She wanted Kami's training too, even if she hadn't really wanted to take on the Saiyans. She let out an angry sigh.

"There's the stadium down there," she said to Kuririn as she let the car descend toward the parking lot. "The game isn't over yet, so I imagine that Yamucha is still playing."

"Are you okay Bulma?" Kuririn asked her.

"I'm fine," she answered. "I'm a little upset, but I'll be all right."

"Oh. Well, don't worry Bulma. I'm sure that Yamucha is just as miserable as you are. He usually is when this happens to you guys."

Bulma laughed. "That's not what had me bummed Kuririn," she said. "Anyway, I had good reason for ending our relationship. I guess I do miss Yamucha a little, but I'm not sorry I broke up with him."

"Well, then what's bothering you?" Kuririn asked. "You haven't spoken almost all evening. Come on. You can tell me, Bulma. We've been friends for a long time, right?"

Bulma sighed. She really didn't feel like telling Kuririn that although she could fight, she obviously wasn't good enough for Kami-sama's standards. "Look Kuririn," she said. "I'd rather not go into it right now. I know you're worried, but try to forget about it. I'm just fine. It's really no big deal, so just concentrate on what we have to do tonight. Yamucha is going to freak when he finds out that Kami wants to train him."

As she maneuvered her way into the parking lot, Kuririn watched her face. She seemed to be all right, but he was sure that something was bothering her. He wasn't quite convinced that she was over Yamucha. Well, maybe they would work their problems out eventually. She was right about one thing, though. Yamucha was going to be very excited when he heard the news.

Bulma landed in a place not too far from the stadium entrance. She unbuckled her seatbelt, but Kuririn had already hopped out of the air car.

"You wait here Bulma, while I go get him. I won't be long," he said quickly.

Before she had a chance to answer, he had already gone. Bulma bit her lip and did her best not to dwell on the fact that she didn't really want to be alone right now. She wanted to hide from her thoughts. Her eagerness to be trained by Kami had left her confused. Why was she so eager to train right now? She was even more interested than she had been when she had seen Goku.

Every path she took in her mind led her to the same set of reasons. She hated to admit it at first, because the thought actually scared her. First of all, her brief talk with Piccolo last night had made her seriously challenge her reasons for declining his offer. She certainly didn't want to spend all that time with him, but what about preparing for the Saiyans? For some reason, she actually found herself wanting to face them in that battle a year from now! Was she insane? She wasn't sure, but one thing she was sure of was that she had really wanted Kami to take her on too.

She sighed. "There's no way around it," she groaned. "I've just got to improve my fighting skills so that I can be ready for them. I just can't sit around and do nothing while everyone else trains! Damn that Piccolo for making me want this!" She knew it really hadn't been Piccolo's fault, though. She had wanted to fight Raditz when she knew how evil he was, and she felt the same way about the two Saiyans she hadn't even met. She had just been fooling herself into believing that she was too sensible for something so reckless. Sighing, she thought about going back to Piccolo, but dismissed that thought almost immediately. She was going to train herself. She wasn't stupid. Anyway, Piccolo's mention of a secret weapon came back to her, and it made her wonder if she might use the new technique that she had been developing like a secret weapon. If she could get it to work the way that she wanted, she would certainly have an edge. It might do the trick.

She relaxed as she waited for Kuririn to return with Yamucha. She had at least given herself some peace of mind, even though she wasn't quite sure yet that she hadn't lost her marbles. After a few minutes, Kuririn walked out of the front entrance with Yamucha and Puar. They strode up the car and Yamucha got in the backseat while Kuririn got in front.

"Hello Yamucha," Bulma said politely.

"Hi Bulma," Yamucha replied. "Did you hear the news? I get to train under Kami! He sure knows how to pick his students, eh?" He said it with a mocking sneer, and she knew beyond a doubt that he was rubbing the fact that she hadn't been invited in her face to spite her. Maybe he'd been upset about their breakup after all, but that was a low blow.

Still, she made a huge effort to pretend as though it didn't bother her. She nodded, biting her lip and turning away from him as she felt her eyes burn from the impending tears. She couldn't help herself. One of them escaped, and it made its way down her cheek as she started the car to take them to the Kame House.

Yamucha watched the tear fall from Bulma's face and splatter on her wrist. His eyes dropped as he must have decided that had been a little too much. "I'm sorry Bulma," he said sincerely. "I guess that was a little cruel. I really have no idea why Kami didn't want..."

Bulma whirled around and shot him a stern glare of warning, gesturing toward Kuririn with her eyes. At first Yamucha was confused, but realization dawned on him all at once and he hurriedly thought up something else to say. "Uh, Goku!" he cried, trying to salvage his last sentence. "Yeah, uh, I had no idea that Goku was dead."

"That's all right Yamucha," Bulma said, addressing his first apology. "I'm sure it'll be all right. I'm here to find the dragonballs, anyway."

Kuririn piped up, thinking they were really talking about Goku. "Don't worry, Bulma. If Goku is training somewhere in the afterlife, I'm sure he'll be way stronger when you wish him back. I'll bet Kami's figured it all out."

Bulma smiled. She hoped that Goku would improve a lot. It would be great to train under him if he were stronger than before.

"Well let's get back to Muten Roshi's," she said, looking at her watch. "We'll search out Tenshinhan and Chaozu in the morning."

"Great!" Yamucha exclaimed. "I haven't seen Roshi in ages! I hope he hasn't changed much."

All that night Bulma hardly spoke a word to Yamucha. She hadn't realized how hurt she was. She wished she knew why he had treated her like he did when they broke up. Of course, being the type he was, Yamucha hardly noticed Bulma's silence. He was too busy catching up on old times with Roshi.

Early the next morning they were all ready to go. As Bulma revved the engine on her air car, she yelled out to Roshi, who had come out to see them off.

"Don't forget now, Roshi," she yelled over the loud engine. "As soon as I get back we're going to begin our search for the dragonballs, so get everything we need together, and don't forget to call Chichi about those two that they have at the Son house."

"Don't worry Bulma," he shouted back. "I'll remember!"

Soon they were on their way to find their other comrades. Bulma decided she ought to ask where they should go.

"All right Kuririn," she said. "Where do you suppose Tenshinhan and Chaozu are?" She could sense them about two hundred miles to the east, but she asked Kuririn anyway.

He scanned around a bit. "There!" he said, and pointed in the right direction. "They're that way! Hurry Bulma! I can't wait to see them again!"

"I hope there are no traffic cops around," Bulma said as she crammed the accelerator as far as it would go. She deftly maneuvered between hills and boulder-filled canyons. She raced over hills and even a desert. Finally, they came upon a dense, lush forest. She slowed the car to a crawl.

"How close are we?" she asked, fully aware of the answer.

"Wow!" Kuririn said. "They're right in that forest! Great timing Bulma! It's as if you knew right where they were!"

"Yeah, it's almost uncanny, isn't it?" Yamucha said. He couldn't help but grin at Bulma. If she hadn't been so upset with him, she might have grinned back. "Listen, Kuririn," he said, glancing at the forest. "Why don't you and Puar go get them and bring them here. I'd like to stay here."

Kuririn figured he knew why Yamucha wanted to be alone with Bulma, so he didn't protest. Like a flash he ran into the woods, pulling Puar behind him and leaving the two to patch things up - or so he thought.

"It's over Yamucha," Bulma said, crossing her arms. "I haven't had any regrets so far, so that's how it's going to stay - over."

"I know," Yamucha said sadly. "I knew it a long time ago. I just never had the heart to tell you. I kept hoping you'd break it off when I made a point of bringing those other women around. I guess I didn't want to be the one to end it."

Bulma grit her teeth. What a cowardly thing to do! Had he even considered how much worse it had hurt her to do it that way? "Yamucha, we had some great times together, but I think the basic problem was that we did things like we were best friends, not lovers. Maybe we're not good at it; I'm sure I'm not. Anyway, I guess it's best that we just try to forget that we were ever anything more than friends. Those times are over, and it's best if it stays that way. We just aren't right for each other. Just the same, that doesn't mean that we have to hate each others' guts either. I don't like being angry with you."

"I've felt exactly the same way," Yamucha said, allowing his shoulders to sag as though a large weight had just been lifted from them. "That's one of the things I'd wanted to tell you when we were alone."

"Thanks Yamucha," she said gratefully. "I feel a lot better now, knowing that you agree. Does this mean that you're willing to still be friends with me? I'd feel better if I knew that I could still come to you if I needed some pointers on my techniques, or if I just wanted to talk."

"Sure," he replied with a warm smile. "When all this is over we can resume your training and continue having fun. Even though Kami-sama didn't call you personally for his training, you can still learn from me. I promise I'll remember all he teaches us."

"I'm sure Kami had an important reason for not wanting to include me, so I know I shouldn't feel too badly about it, but I still wish he had wanted to train me. Just think! What an honor it would be to be trained by the guardian of the earth! I hope you know how great a chance this is, Yamucha."

"I do," he said solemnly. "And don't worry. I'll teach you everything I learn. We'll need Goku too, though. You still have a very important job."

"Yeah. I have to deal with that pervert of a hermit for a year. Yippee!" she said sarcastically. "I just hope I can keep myself from blasting him to smithereens."

Yamucha laughed. "Hey, wait a minute!" he said suddenly. "That reminds me! Why haven't you told anyone about your fighting ability? I would think that you would have at least told Kuririn. Why the secrecy?"

"I didn't really have the opportunity to tell anyone until a few days ago at the reunion. But even then things happened too quickly. There have just been too many more important things happening. I had originally planned to reveal it all at the Kame house and surprise everyone, but Raditz showed up and I lost the chance. It just never seemed to be the right time to drop the bomb on them, you know? Maybe I'll just wait until this whole Saiyan thing blows over. Just in case, though, I'm going to do some self-training. I've managed to flesh out some more details on that teleport technique I showed you earlier, and with a little more time and work I'll get so that I can actually teleport from one place on the planet to another. I've achieved that level of success with inanimate objects, but teleporting myself is a lot harder. I've been a little leery of trying that technique out on myself."

"You've gotten that far? That's amazing! You'll have to teach me that when everything's back to normal!" Yamucha said excitedly. He was sincerely impressed, and she knew it.

Bulma laughed. "I'll tell you what," she said, smiling at him. "You teach me Kami-sama's training - at least some of it anyway - and I'll show you what I'll have developed by then. Deal?" She stuck her hand out.

"Deal!" Yamucha laughed and grasped her hand. They shook hands vigorously, just as Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Puar, and Chaozu emerged from the trees, laughing and talking loudly.

Bulma and Yamucha got out of the car and joined the small reunion. After a few minutes of reminiscing, Bulma called for attention.

"Hey guys!" she said. "You should probably go to Karin tower now. I don't want to seem like I want to get rid of you, but I wouldn't want to keep Kami-sama waiting if I were you."

"She has a point," Tenshinhan said. They all agreed that it would be best to leave right away, and as Bulma and Puar waved goodbye, the eager fighters flew off for Karin tower.

"Come on, Puar," Bulma said, turning toward the air car. "Let's go back to Muten Roshi's. You can help us search for dragonballs if you want," she offered, knowing that Puar needed something to do to take her mind off Yamucha's absence.

"That would be wonderful, Bulma!" Puar exclaimed. "But can we stop at Yamucha's apartment first? I'd like to get his things for him, since he won't be back there for a while."

"Sure," Bulma replied. "I need to pick up a few things from the store anyway, so we might as well stop off in the city." Bulma started up her air car and took off. She couldn't help feeling that she'd gotten the less interesting task in the whole 'prepare for the Saiyans' effort, but she was bound and determined to do it well, anyway.

- - - - -

"We're back!" Bulma shouted, slamming the door of the car behind her. Hefting the large grocery bags in her arms, she trotted into the Kame House with Puar following close behind her, carrying a large capsule case in her fuzzy paws.

"So how are they?" Muten Roshi asked Bulma, taking some of the bags from her and putting them on the counter.

"They're both doing fine, and keeping in shape, as far as I can tell," she replied, setting the remaining bags down and smiling at him. "And every one of that bunch seems pretty stoked about training under Kami-sama. You should have heard the way they carried on. It was kind of sad to see them all go."

"It's quite an honor," Roshi agreed, nodding. "Well, we're all ready to go. I even brought a few things to read in case we get rained out or something."

"You'd better not be bringing any of those trashy magazines with you," Bulma said angrily. "I won't even be able to sleep if I know that you're ogling those things the next tent over. Blech!"

Roshi rolled his eyes and shook his head. He began taking some of the magazines out of his bag, but he resolved to leave a few and look at them in secret.

"Aw, go easy on him Bulma," Oolong said, walking into the Kame house with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. "He's not hurting anyone."

"What are you doing here?" she said angrily. "I hope this doesn't mean that you're coming too. Have I been sent on a perversion tour or what?"

"I am coming," he said, with a hurt expression on his face. "Muten Roshi invited me. He said you two would appreciate my help."

"You're more of a pain in the neck than a help." Bulma growled. "I know you. At the first sign of danger you'll go running for cover. The most you're good for is luring big scary monsters out of their dens while we reach in for a stray dragonball."

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" he asked, trembling and glaring at her.

"Oh yeah!" Bulma cried enthusiastically. "What hungry jungle beast wouldn't leave its lair for a plump porker like yourself? You'd make the perfect bait!"

Oolong looked as though he was about to faint. He gulped and shot an icy glare at Bulma as he tried to decide whether or not he should take her seriously. She had a track record of being a bossy, evil woman, and he didn't trust her as far as he could throw her.

"Oh, stop scaring him Bulma," Muten Roshi said. "We'd better get started. Have you even located our first dragonball yet?"

"Not yet," she admitted. "I figured we'd go to Goku's house first and get theirs, and then I'd use the radar." She realized that she might have been a little hard on Oolong and she felt a twinge of guilt. She was in such a foul mood that it really hadn't mattered who it was; she'd have bullied someone sooner or later.

"Look Oolong," she said. "I'm sorry I upset you. I guess I'm a little testy today. If it counts for anything, I wouldn't really feed you to any wild animal."

"Really?" Oolong asked, glowering at her as though he didn't really believe her.

"Really," Bulma said sincerely. "Besides, you might give him indigestion!"

She laughed as she dodged a pillow projectile and ran out the door. Oolong was right behind her, brandishing another pillow.

"Come on you two, let's go!" she yelled back at Roshi and Puar. "There are six more dragonballs out there with our names on them!" Grabbing their bags, they raced out after them to Bulma's air car. The search was about to begin!

- - - - -

Yamucha followed his friends into the temple of Kami. He hesitated as he passed his new sensei, however, wondering if this was the right time to bring up the thing that'd been eating him ever since he'd begun climbing the tower with Kuririn and the others.

Kami knew what was on his mind, but out of courtesy he asked him anyway. "What's troubling you, Yamucha?"

"Well, I've been trying to figure something out," he replied, checking to make sure that his friends had already continued on into the temple before he continued. "I don't want to second-guess any of your decisions, but, well, why didn't you, uh..."

"...Invite Bulma too?" Kami finished for him. Yamucha nodded.

"She thought that you must have had an important reason for omitting her," he said, "but she knows all of my techniques! She's as good as I am, if not better. Couldn't she have come with us? It's not because she's a girl, is it?"

"Certainly not," Kami chuckled. "I agree with you - up to a point. Bulma is very skilled, and recently she's shown great bravery in the face of danger, but unfortunately she just doesn't have the fighting experience. She would have absolutely no idea what to expect, and I'm almost certain that she wouldn't survive if we threw her into a fight this extreme. It's better this way anyway. She'll be efficient in locating the dragonballs, so we'll have Goku back on time. Now, don't worry about Bulma. She and the rest of the world are all counting on us, and Goku is counting on her. We all have our own jobs to worry about. So let's begin yours!" They then followed the rest of the group into Kami's temple.

Although Yamucha wasn't entirely convinced that Kami had given him the whole truth, he knew better than to press the issue. He hoped Bulma wouldn't have to fight, though. What Kami had said had made a lot of sense, after all. Bulma hadn't had any real fighting experience, and she wasn't used to dealing with dirty tricks and rotten tactics. Maybe it was better this way, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Teleportation?**

In the months that followed, Yamucha and the others trained hard in preparation for the arrival of the Saiyans, while Bulma and her group searched for the dragonballs. During their expeditions, Bulma had found little time to train, much less perfect her teleportation technique. She had decided beforehand that she would wait until later to tell Roshi about her training with Yamucha. They hadn't had any difficulties in gathering the balls this time for some reason, so she never really had a need to do anything out of the ordinary. Besides, she didn't want to have to admit to him that although she did have some skills, she hadn't been invited to train under Kami-sama. She was still a little hurt by that.

On the day that they managed to find the last dragonball, they still had three months left. Bulma knew she still had enough time to perfect her technique, but she couldn't perfect much else. She decided to master it anyway though, and since they couldn't even call the dragon for a few months, she wanted to make good use of her time.

"I'll be back in a couple of months," she told them, gathering her capsules and making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Roshi nodded, but he didn't look altogether pleased by her sudden change of heart.

"I still wish you'd reconsider staying here with us," he said sadly. "It'd make the waiting a lot easier if you were here for me to feel your boo..." He didn't get to finish his statement, because Bulma had clonked him roughly on top of the head.

"Look Roshi," she said, trying to keep her fury in check as she clicked her capsule case shut. "I've already told you that I've got something very important to do, and there's no way I'm missing my chance on it. I'll be back a few weeks before the Saiyans show up, so it's not all that bad. You'll be fine without me for a couple of lousy months, won't you?"

"I suppose so, but it's going to be awfully boring around here without some nice curves. I say you're being unfair."

"Oh, for Kami's sake, you old pervert! You're a hermit, remember? You'll manage! Anyway, you'll have Oolong and Puar here to keep you company, so you shouldn't be all that bored, right? Now, just take it easy for a while. I'm leaving and that's all there is to it. Goodbye guys!" she cried, waving and running out to her car. Muten Roshi and Puar watched her as she flew upwards a few yards before zooming away.

"She sure seemed eager to ditch us," he grumbled bitterly to Puar.

"Well, she must have had good reason," Puar replied. "After all, for all we know, the world could end in a few months. There are bound to be a few loose ends she needs to tie, or maybe she just wants to spend some time with her family. Don't take it so personally, Master Muten."

"I suppose you're right," he sighed. "Hey, Puar... you can change your shape, right? If I show you a picture in a magazine, do you think you could change into that shape for a while?"

- - - - -

Bulma got out of the air cruiser and did a few warm-up stretches. It felt wonderful to be in her training gi again. She had gone home to change into it and to drop some things off, while she picked some other things up, namely enough food, water, and clothing to last for a couple months. Her parents had been delighted to see her and hear about how her dragonball hunt had gone, but they were also a little upset that she had left them so quickly after returning home. Oh well; she couldn't blame them, but she wasn't about to shave any more time off of what she had left. This place was perfect for what she wanted, she decided. She was totally secluded out here in the desert, so it would do quite nicely.

She began by firing off a series of fast punches and kicks, increasing her intensity and frequency gradually, so that she could accustom herself to channeling her chi again. Surprisingly, she wasn't all that rusty. Despite the fact that she hadn't done this in almost a year, she was still nearly as fast as she used to be. When she had finished limbering up with the punches and kicks, she switched over to chi blasts. She demolished all of the boulders around her within a few seconds, fairly well surprising herself in the process.

"Wow!" she said to herself. "I haven't even lost any of my speed! I guess it's time to take the bull by the horns. Let's see how much energy I can gather at one time. I'll try to blast open that mountain over there."

Slowly and carefully she summoned all the energy she could muster. She focused on her target, but all of the sudden she had another thought. It would be a shame to waste all this energy on a stupid rock. She wanted to try something more productive.

Carefully she let the energy envelop her entire body. Focusing on a spot far off in the distance, she gritted her teeth and decided to give it her best shot. She had done this with small, nonliving objects before through exactly the same process, but she wasn't sure what effects it would have on her. She hadn't even gathered this much energy together at once before! Oh well. There was only one way to find out what would happen.

"Rapid teleport!" she yelled. All at once, she felt a strange sense of heaviness, and everything around her had turned blue. To be more precise, it looked as though she was looking at things through a blue filter. She tried walking, and realized that she could move around, but her movements were hindered somewhat. She knew that she was somehow creating this odd environment by her teleportation technique, but it sure didn't seem instantaneous enough for her to think calling it teleportation was accurate anymore. She walked circles for a little bit, and then she began to run them. She eventually turned and ran until she had reached the point she had been shooting for, all the while feeling more and more drained of her energy and stamina. When she reached her mark, she snapped back out of the teleportation and fell to her hands and knees, panting and trying to stop the sudden ringing in her ears. The ringing soon subsided, and she managed to stumble to her feet. What had just happened? Why had she become so worn out, and had it affected anything at all?

She had suddenly become really hungry, so she trudged back to her air car and reached into the trunk for a granola bar. When she did so, she saw that her watch showed that only a couple of minutes had passed since she had initiated her technique. Hang on a second... she'd been using it for at least ten minutes; she was sure of it. She had to test this more precisely. She took her watch off and set it on the car. Then she carefully focused her energy and, with some difficulty, managed to initiate another "teleportation." Panting from the effort, she glanced through the blue at her watch and after a few seconds, was very perplexed by what she saw. It had stopped. The seconds column hadn't moved at all from 23.9, and no matter how long she waited, it stayed the same.

Bulma was unable to keep the thing going as long this time, so she snapped back out of it a few seconds after she had confirmed her stunning discovery. She stared at the watch as she tried to remain on her wobbly legs, and she noticed that it had picked up right where it had left off.

So that was it! She hadn't created a teleportation that worked the way she had initially thought it ought to... she'd found a way to create a time distortion - to stop time long enough to give her a chance to go somewhere she needed to go. It was like a teleportation, but without the convenience of not seeing the whole trip. Still, it did sound like it would come in handy, and she knew that Yamucha had never discovered anything like this, or he'd have told her.

Grabbing the remains of her granola bar, she sat down in the driver's seat of her car and tried to regain her strength. She realized that if teleporting took this much energy, she was going to have to train hard. She was definitely going to have to decrease the amount of time it took her to begin her technique, as well as her ability to withstand using it for long distances.

For the next two months, Bulma worked fiercely to increase her endurance and improve the usability of her "Rapid Teleport," as she continued to call it, finding the name slightly ironic now. For the first couple of days she could only teleport a few times, but gradually her strength increased, and eventually she was able to teleport about as often as she wanted to.

After she felt comfortable enough with the initial shock of entering the teleportation state, she concentrated on her endurance during the process. Simply moving around felt about ten times as difficult, probably due to the huge amount of concentration and focus it took to keep in control of her environment. At first, walking and running were about the best she could do, but it didn't take her long to get good enough to fly. At that point it was only a question of increasing the distance she could go, as well as the duration (if you could call it that, considering the fact that time had technically stopped).

When she had barely more than a month left to go before the Saiyans were to arrive, she decided that it was time to push herself to her limits. She had to know what her max was, or she'd never be able to use this thing effectively. So far, the most distance she had allowed herself had been to the next continent over. She'd still had a lot of energy left over after that. It was time to really push herself and find out once and for all just how far she'd come in her training.

"Rapid teleport!" she cried. Immediately she took to the sky, racing past rock formations and other various desert structures. As the hours pressed on, she flew over mountains, tundra, and vast oceans. Although she had traveled a great distance, she knew she could do more. She could definitely feel the strain of her efforts by now, but she wasn't quite winded yet. She raced past long stretches of ice and water, then passed over more dry land. Eventually she came to the point where she was having to push herself to go just a few hundred miles more. She knew she was almost spent. She didn't even know where she was anymore, as the earth below her was nothing but a fuzzy blur in her waning eyesight. When at last she felt that if she didn't stop she'd pass out, she snapped back into real time and dropped rather shakily to the ground below. Nearly toppling over out of fatigue, she braced her body on wobbly legs and glanced blearily at her surroundings. She gaped at the landscape around her in amazement. Not only was she back in the very same desert, but she had landed within sight of her air car! She gasped as the realization of what she had accomplished hit her. She had teleported completely around the world! Whether her arrival here had been coincidental or a subconscious intention, she didn't know.

Too weak to fly, she walked over to her car for a bite to eat. She finished off the remains of her breakfast and threw herself into her pup tent for a nap. She was so sleepy! Smiling happily, she drifted off to dreamless sleep, after technically having awakened only an hour ago that morning.

When Bulma awoke it was late afternoon. She packed all her stuff up and loaded it in her car. She was finally satisfied. She had greatly improved her technique, and she couldn't have been happier with the results she had achieved. Sighing in contentment, she started the engine and drove away. It was time for rest and recuperation.

- - - - -

In the days that followed, Bulma spent some long-overdue time with her parents. Both of them sensed a change in Bulma but neither said anything about it. They both blamed it on the absence of Yamucha. Perhaps their daughter had grown up a little since the termination of her relationship with the fighter.

At dinner on the day before she was to leave for Roshi's, Bulma came very close to telling her parents everything. They didn't even know yet that there were more Saiyans coming! In the end she decided that it was better for them not to know. She didn't want them to worry, and besides, there was nothing either of them could do to prevent any of it anyway.

The next day, with only a month remaining, and after a heartfelt goodbye, Bulma left in her air car for Muten Roshi's island. She had packed very little. All she had brought with her was some extra clothes and the brand-new gi she had made a few days earlier. While making it she had also made a final decision. She was going to help fight the Saiyans, but only if she was really needed. She didn't know how well the others would do against them, but she knew that out of all of them, she was probably the weakest. She didn't want to rush right into battle if it wasn't necessary, otherwise she might do more harm than good. She did feel that she was mentally ready, even if not physically so, so if the occasion arose, she wasn't going to hesitate to act.

It was noon when her cruiser arrived on the sands of the turtle hermit's island. Everyone seemed relatively calm to her, considering the circumstances. After she put her bag away, Bulma asked Oolong what everyone had been doing to keep busy.

"Not much," he replied, yawning. "We've gotten enough supplies to wait out World War III, and each of us has done whatever he can think of to prepare to take cover, but other than that all we've done is play checkers and watch TV. Puar seems pretty lonely though. She's also really worried about Yamucha. She thinks he may get too cocky in battle and get himself killed."

Bulma sighed. Puar certainly knew Yamucha well. He could take care of himself though, no doubt. He ought to know not to mess around with enemies like these.

"Hey, where's Muten Roshi?" Bulma said suddenly. "He was here a minute ago."

"He's on the can!" Puar exclaimed, darting into the room. "And I think he's lost it! You have to come hear this! He thinks he's talking to Goku in there!"

They raced towards the bathroom and when they got there, Roshi burst out, yanking his pants up with a wild look on his face.

"Come on, guys!" he said excitedly. "Goku wants us to wish him back to life now! The Saiyans will be here tomorrow!" He grabbed the dragonballs and ran out the front door. Oolong and Puar went racing after him, but Bulma remained rooted in place.

They were going to be a whole month early! How could such a thing have happened? Would it mean that the training everyone had been doing wouldn't be enough? She hoped Goku had at least finished his. She didn't know what to think anymore, but she somehow felt that he was the key to the whole thing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Saiyans Have Landed**

Bulma opened her eyes. She sat up and looked at her clock. 7:39. She wondered how long it would be before the Saiyans made planetfall. Yawning, she got out of bed and went over to her bag on the floor. She took out her neatly folded gi and quickly changed into it. Today was the day that they all would find out just how good everyone had become. She hated to admit it, but she was actually excited. Maybe she could teleport out somewhere close to the battlefield and watch the fight. That would be better than simply watching it on TV here. Although she was sure that it would be covered once it attracted enough attention, she knew that most of what was likely to go on couldn't be captured by the relatively slow film rate of a TV camera. Maybe it wouldn't be such a great idea, though. Who knows what would be a safe distance from the actual fighting? She didn't want to get caught in some stray blasts or anything. Sighing, she decided that she'd just watch it on TV and keep her eyes peeled. Best to be cautious.

"Good morning," she said as she walked out into the living room. "What's for breakfast?"

"Mornin' Bulma," Roshi replied, not raising his head from his bowl. "Just cereal I guess. I didn't feel much like cooking this morning."

Bulma picked up the box and looked at it. "Ugh!" she said in disgust. "Sugar Frosted Choco-Bombs? How can you put such garbage in your stomach? Bleh! I think I'll pass on breakfast."

Oolong looked up from his bowl of cereal. "Hey Bulma," he said. "Uh, trying out a new look?"

"What do you think?" She asked, smirking at him. "I am wearing something unusual, I suppose. But today is an unusual day. Anyway, I guess you could call it a tribute to our guys out there. They wear something similar, don't they?"

Roshi glanced at her outfit and chuckled at her. "Not bad," he told her. "It's a little plain, what with it not having a school symbol on it, but since you haven't been trained by a master, that's to be expected. Now, if you were to accept me as your master, I could give you the kame symbol to put on there."

Bulma shook her head as the prospect of calling the turtle hermit "master" gave her the willies. "No thanks," she told him with a frown. "No offense, but if I wanted martial arts training, I don't think I'd get it from you."

"How is that not supposed to offend me?" Roshi grumbled testily at her.

"Never mind," Bulma said, grinning. "Just forget it. Well, I'll be back later. I'm going to go out to a restaurant to eat breakfast. It may be my last chance to do that for awhile."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Bulma," he said hesitantly. "We don't know when or where the Saiyans will land. Today wouldn't be the best day to enjoy a meal out."

"Don't worry," she said, brushing him off. "I'll be careful. And besides, the chances that they'll land in Metro East are just as good as the chances they'll land anywhere else. So don't worry. I'll see you around lunchtime. There's another thing I want to do before I come back." Before he could protest, Bulma had run out the door and jumped into her air cruiser. She revved the engine and sped off across the ocean toward Metro East.

- - - - -

It was almost four hours later when she decided that she might want to consider going back. She had stopped off at her favorite restaurant for breakfast, and then she had blown the rest of the morning window-shopping. It had been an unproductive morning, but she had enjoyed herself nonetheless. She wondered what the earth would be like without bustling cities like this. The Saiyans certainly had the capability to destroy such a metropolis, especially if they were as strong as Raditz had described. She hoped that they wouldn't get the chance before Yamucha and the others caught them.

Suddenly she stopped walking. She wasn't sure, but she thought she had just sensed some strange source of chi nearby. She scanned around a bit. Yes, she was certain now. There were two sources, growing in intensity, which seemed to be emanating from the sky. Bulma began to shake. No! This couldn't be happening! Not yet! Her fears were confirmed when she could see two objects growing larger in the same patch of sky. They appeared to be meteors, but she was terrifyingly aware of what they really were. Saiyan space pods! She watched in horror as they zoomed to the surface, smashing through a skyscraper and finally landing with a crash right in the middle of the city!

She teleported past the panicking people to get a better look in the craters. A whole crowd gathered around the two craters, curious to see the strange objects. Bulma didn't think that was very smart, but it would have been impossible for her to convince them all to run away. Suddenly the pods both opened. Bulma sharply drew in her breath. The chis of these two were phenomenal! She held her breath as the two armor-clad Saiyans stepped out of their pods and floated up to ground level to look at their audience.

As they began talking with each other quietly, she took the opportunity to study them. One of them was very tall and thickly-built. He seemed to be the weaker of the two, despite the fact that the other one was much smaller and leaner. The smaller one had a thick patch of black hair that stood upright in sharp spikes, framing his face with a distinctive widow's peak. They were both wearing scouters, so she did her best to suppress her chi, even though she remained on her guard at all times.

She had a very bad feeling about all of this. They certainly wouldn't have any moral reservations about opening fire on an unsuspecting crowd of earthlings. As she watched the smaller one nod slightly at something the larger one had just said, Bulma felt her muscles tense. The larger one was staring at the crowd with an evil grin, and he had begun to concentrate on something.

Suddenly he poised his hand to throw a huge blast. Bulma barely had time to throw up a spherical, protective barrier around herself before everything and everyone around her began disintegrating. It was a relatively weak attack, in that she easily blocked it, but it was very widespread, and it was more than enough to wipe out a big chunk of Metro East, not to mention all the people living in the area. Bulma was appalled. These two were totally without reservation. There was no way the earth would stand a chance if earth's fighters failed. That big guy hadn't even broken a sweat.

Bulma dissolved her barrier as the dust settled, and she remained floating some two feet above the newly-cleared ground. Trembling like a leaf, she strained her eyes to make out the two aliens. She was unable to leave, whether out of terror or curiosity she couldn't decide. She felt she had to know more about them – anything that she could learn to give her some insight on how to beat them.

As the dust cleared and they noticed her floating there in front of them, the Saiyans stared at her in shock. How in the world was she still there? Did someone with her ability truly exist on this weak planet?

"It's impossible," Bulma stammered, moving backward a couple of feet, despite her efforts to remain calm. "How can anyone be so powerful? Your chis are unlike anything I've ever felt... you must each be at least 8000 degrees on those scouters of yours."

The smaller one grinned at her. "Impressed? You should be. Nappa and I are among the most powerful fighters in the universe. I must say that I'm actually impressed by you, though. How did you evade Nappa's blast? And how can you tell the power of our chi without a scouter?"

Bulma was petrified, but she was also furious. These two were unlike anything she could ever have prepared for. Even with her new technique, there was no way she'd be able to hold her own against so much raw power. It was completely unthinkable for her to consider fighting these two. "Don't be too impressed by me," she said shakily. "You're going to meet fighters today that are worlds stronger than I am. Just the same," she added, feeling angry and indignant that they had managed to frighten her so badly, "I intend to make good on what I said the day Raditz died, whether you heard it or not. I will keep you two from making a wish on the dragonballs. That's a promise."

"That was you?" Nappa cried, staring at her and grinning with amusement. "Vegita, did you hear that? She's going to keep us from making our wish! Well, I guess we ought to just get back in our pods and leave. No point in us hanging around here anymore, is there?" He laughed loudly, and Vegita shot her a challenging smirk.

"I invite you to try and stop us," he told her with a haughty sneer. "I didn't realize I'd get to pit myself against an adversary like you. Maybe this planet isn't entirely without its merits, eh Nappa?"

Bulma knew they were making fun of her, but she hadn't really expected anything else. She had known that they wouldn't be intimidated by her. Still, she had wanted to make herself clear, if only to soothe her wounded pride. She didn't have any other reason to stay now. "I'm not your opponent just yet," she growled at them. "You may well see me later, but for now, I have other duties. I will give you a bit of advice, though. Leave this planet now if you value your lives. We've had an entire year to prepare for you, and we aren't defenseless!" Without giving them a chance to laugh at her again, she immediately initiated her teleport and took off as fast as she could for the Kame house. She tried to steady her shivering body as she assured herself that she wouldn't have to face those two again, and that the boys would be able to handle them. They just had to!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: First One Down**

Bulma cut off her teleport about a mile away from Roshi's island. What was she going to say? She would definitely have to explain herself if they saw her drop out of the sky without so much as a car, and even if they didn't, how was she going to explain the fact that she didn't have it with her? She couldn't just say, "Oh! Well the Saiyans destroyed my car with that megablast that leveled Metro East. Yeah, I was the only one who survived, and I just ran back here with my tail between my legs." Sheesh. She suddenly hated herself for being such a coward. Even if she _had_ been outclassed by those two, the others hadn't found them yet, and she should have tried to stall for time until they did. As it was, the Saiyans could do anything to the rest of Metro East while they waited for the others to come to them.

Sighing angrily, she flew the rest of the distance slowly, trying to formulate a believable story as she went. All of the sudden it hit her. She could say that she had converted her car to a capsule before she came in! It was the perfect excuse! Nodding resolutely, she flew the rest of the way to Roshi's island and landed quietly on the shore.

When she entered the Kame house she realized right away that her alibi might not even have been necessary. Everyone was in the living room with their eyes glued to the television, and shocked, horrified expressions on their faces. Apparently they had seen a newscast of the incident at Metro East. As it was, they had been too distracted by the TV to pay attention to her.

"I suppose you know what just happened," she said sadly. "All those people... what a waste!"

"Bulma!" Roshi, Oolong, and Puar yelled, leaping to their feet and scrambling over to her, nearly knocking her over as they reached her. They stared at her with relieved, shocked looks on their faces, and she couldn't help feeling a little guilty for worrying them, since it had been her fault and all.

"Thank Kami you're all right!" Roshi said. "We thought that you had been destroyed with the rest of Metro East. How in the world did you escape?"

"I had just left there when I saw the space pods zooming across the sky," she lied. "I high-tailed it back here as fast as I could. I'm glad I did, because if I had been any closer when that explosion went off, I would have been toast."

"It's too bad that no one else had the same impulse," Roshi muttered, shaking his head sadly. "A lot more people might have been saved."

"Well, there's nothing we can do for those poor people now," Bulma sighed. "I suggest we watch the TV stations for breaking news about the Saiyans. They're bound to find out about the battle before it ends. I haven't met a reporter yet who wouldn't risk his neck to cover a story like this."

For the next few minutes that's just what they did. As she flipped through the channels for the fourteenth time, Bulma noticed a strangely familiar face on one of the local stations.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who showed up to see Kuririn?" Roshi asked. "You know, the one who told us to gather the fighters together?"

"You're right," Bulma agreed. "That's Yajirobe. Ugh. He packs the food away just as fast as Son-kun. It makes me kind of sick just watching him."

They listened to the reporter's conversation with the portly man. Yajirobe was bragging about training Goku and all the other fighters that Kami had trained. He was really hamming it up for the cameras, and he seemed more than comfortable telling such lies when they got him free food.

"That lying little troll!" Bulma cried indignantly. "He's got a lot of nerve..."

"Shh!" Roshi said. "He's telling them where to find the Saiyans and our guys. Listen!"

It was true. He told the reporter holding the microphone where they were holding their battle, and gave a sort of shrug when he was asked why he wasn't there himself. Immediately the station asked the audience to stay tuned until their qualified reporters could arrive on the scene.

"See?" Bulma chuckled wryly. "What did I tell you? The TV stations will brave any danger for their ratings."

"I hope they'll be reporting good news," Roshi said. "It would be nice if Yamucha and the others could defeat those two, or at least hold them off."

"I doubt it, old man. The the sheer power of those two is way more than anything we could hope to survive. It really all depends on Goku right now," Bulma muttered, forgetting herself for a moment.

"What makes you so sure?" Roshi asked curiously. "You're being awfully pessimistic about this."

"Well yeah, but come on!" she stammered. "Just look what they did to Metro East!"

"You have a point," Roshi admitted. "But who knows? Kami's training might have been enough to hold them off."

"I hope so," Puar said, her high-pitched voice even higher because of her anxiousness. "I'm so worried about Yamucha. I hope he's really careful out there!"

Bulma felt sorry for her. She knew how upset the poor cat would be if something happened to her Yamucha. Those two had been together for many years – much longer than she and Yamucha had. It would destroy Puar if Yamucha didn't survive this fight.

They focused their attention back on the TV as the reporter from before came back on the air. Their crew had reached the battle site and had crept as close to the warriors as they dared. They had a pretty good view of the battlefield, and from what Bulma could see, things hadn't really begun to get serious yet. All of the ones Kami trained - except Yajirobe - as well as Piccolo and Gohan had already gathered to meet the Saiyans head-on. Well, at least now she knew that Piccolo had really been serious about training Gohan. Bulma wondered who would make the first move. Suddenly she got her answer. The larger Saiyan, Nappa, bent down and began poking around in the ground. Then he poured some green liquid over the soil he had been poking in.

"What are they up to?" Bulma wondered aloud. "Is he planting something? Surely they're not gardening at a time like this!"

"If you ask me, those Saiyans are a couple of nuts." Oolong declared. Even I know that planting some seeds won't win a fight."

"I don't know," Roshi said. "We shouldn't underestimate these two. We don't have any idea what they can do. One thing's for sure, though; they're a lot stronger than we are."

"You can say that again," Bulma muttered under her breath. They watched the TV to find out what would happen next.

Then something strange happened. Large, green, plantlike bulbs began popping up from the ground. Soon after, they popped out of the ground entirely, revealing small, veiny, green men.

"What the?" Bulma began, and she leaned forward for a better look. "What in the world are those little gremlins?"

They watched anxiously as the Saiyans said something to the group of fighters. Kuririn made a move forward, but Yamucha stopped him. It seemed as if he wanted to fight first.

"That Yamucha," Bulma said, rolling her eyes. "Either he's deliberately keeping Kuririn from fighting, he's showing off, or it's a combination of both. He always did have to be the star of the show." She leaned back on the couch and watched the telecast with a cynical smirk on her face. When the fight began, the camera lost track of them almost immediately. That was to be expected, though. Even Bulma would have been too fast for the camera. It only caught little snatches as the battle moved into its view. From what she could see, however, Yamucha was holding his own very well. Every now and then she caught a glimpse of Yamucha as he hit the little green creature while in the camera's field of view. She was, however, extremely surprised by the strength and speed of his opponent.

After only a short bout it was apparent that Yamucha was gaining the upper hand. The little creature he was fighting was definitely slowing. Suddenly Yamucha was in the perfect position to strike. He fired an enormous blast of energy, which hit the creature squarely in the face and exploded on contact. When the smoke cleared in front of him, all that remained was a small crater with the battered body of his opponent twitching in the bottom. Grinning triumphantly, Yamucha turned toward the Saiyans to gloat.

Bulma jumped to her feet and cheered. "Did you see that?" she cried. "He defeated that little goblin as if it was nothing! Way to go, Yamucha!" She and Puar laughed and gave each other high-fives, as Oolong and Roshi grinned and nodded excitedly.

Suddenly Bulma's joy melted into horror. The little green freak had somehow recovered, and it was about to attack Yamucha from behind. Bulma gasped as the persistent creature wrapped its limbs around Yamucha and smirked at him evilly. Yamucha had time to let out one yell of protest before the creature released all of its energy at once, creating a devastating explosion. The creature was dead, but it only took one look at his shattered, shredded body to see that so was Yamucha.

Puar screamed and flew to the television screen, sobbing uncontrollably. Upon glancing a second time at Yamucha's charred, grisly remains, she fainted altogether. Oolong somehow overcame his own shock and ran to the kitchen get her a cold, damp cloth. Bulma just stood silently where she was, trembling with a mixture of rage, grief, and astonishment, her tears flowing freely down her pallid face.

"I'm sorry Bulma," Roshi sighed, patting her shoulder. "I know you two were very close."

Bulma couldn't hear him. All she knew at the moment was the vivid memory of the terrified look on Yamucha's face before he was obliterated by that... that... thing! Anger and hatred filled her to the depths of her soul. She clenched her fists and grit her teeth as her rage began to build inside her like the inside of a quaking volcano.

"Uh, Bulma?" Roshi gave her shoulder a light, cautious shake. He expected her to burst into tears at any moment, but he was flinching a bit in anticipation of the outburst.

Bulma's chi began to flare dramatically. "They killed him!" she snarled fiercely. "How could they? Those... those _monsters!_" She added emphasis to the final word as she yelled it out, her fury building to a crescendo of visible chi energy, rising and steaming off of her body as Roshi watched on with a shocked, panic-stricken expression. How could this be? How could her battle aura be so vivid and powerful? As it was now, not even he would be able to subdue her if she lost control over herself. What had happened to Bulma?

Slowly, and with a great deal of difficulty, she somehow managed to regain her composure and suppress her overflowing chi energy. She couldn't lose it now. It was too important for her to remain focused on what she knew she had to do. With shaking hands, she tied on her headband as she watched the television and studied the actions of two Saiyans. For some inexplicable reason, they had both removed their scouters. Well, that suited her just fine. That only meant that she could sneak up on them more easily. She took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves and she noticed Roshi, who was backing away from her and gaping at her with an expression that did little to hide his fear and confusion. Obviously, her little outburst had given him quite the nasty shock. She sighed as she realized that she should never have kept all this a secret from everyone. Even if it had never seemed like the right time before, now was probably the most stressful time of all to drop a bombshell like this.

"Look, I'm sorry about all this," she said with an apologetic shrug. "You've probably already figured this out now, but you might as well hear it from me too that I've been trained in the martial arts by Yamucha for the past several years. I've learned a lot from him, and even though I'm probably going to be the weakest one out there, I've come to the conclusion that I can't just sit here and wait for everyone to die. Yamucha was an integral part of their team, and..." She fought back against the tears that were threatening to resurface, and she paused a moment to restrain them. "And... and now he's gone. I had hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but Yamucha's death has made me realize just how serious this situation really is. I've met the Saiyans. I was there when they destroyed Metro East, and although I survived the blast, I knew as soon as I sensed them that they were way beyond any league I could ever dream of. Those two are capable of much more than simply destroying a city. The others are going to need all the help they can get, and if there's even a chance that I can offer them any kind of help, I want to be there to do it."

"Bulma..." Oolong breathed, having come back from the kitchen and hearing her revelation in its entirety. "You can't be serious about this! You'll get killed!"

"No, Oolong, she's right. This is something Bulma knows she needs to do. There's nothing we can say to stop her. Is there?" Roshi asked, staring gravely at her as he adjusted his shades. She nodded firmly at him.

She ran to the door then, but she stopped and turned back around as she realized there was one more thing she had to say to them. "I may not be back, you guys," she said, her voice cracking a little. "So... in case I don't see you again, I want you to know that it's been awesome to know you all these years." With that, she ran out the door and took off for the battlefield - where her destiny, along with that of the rest of the world, was yet to be decided. She had opted to fly there rather than teleport. Flying in normal time used less energy, and she wanted to be as alert as possible. It would take her about fifteen minutes to get there, if she kept up her quick, steady pace. She just hoped she would be in time to make a difference.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: I'm Here to Fight!**

Bulma was nearly there. She was frantically searching for the chis that had recently disappeared, but could sense them nowhere. She knew that they hadn't been the chis of the Saiyans. They had been too weak to belong to them. She was afraid that two of her companions had just been killed. She wasn't sure which ones they were, but they were definitely two of Earth's fighters.

Silently and stealthily, Bulma approached the battle site from the sky. She could see the news vans down there just above the valley where all the fighters had gathered. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get an idea of what had happened so far before she went in there. She landed not too far from the nearest van and ran up to the reporter standing next to it. No one had seen her land, so she startled him quite a bit.

"What has happened?" she asked him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Has anyone besides the first man been killed?"

He jumped and spun around. "Who are you? When did you get here?" he asked her. "This area is for members of the press only! Security!"

"Never mind!" Bulma snapped. "I'll find out for myself." She darted past him and his van and made her way past the rest of the reporters and news vans. She was greeted with exclamations of surprise and warning as she ran. Finally, she came upon a police barricade blocking the entrance into the valley.

"Sorry miss," a large policeman said, putting his hand up to stop her. "I can't let you in here. I have orders not to let anyone beyond this point. Besides, if you're not a member of the press, you can't even be here. Just go home; there's nothing you can do to help the people down there anyway."

"Maybe not, but I'm going down there anyway," she replied with a dark scowl. Before he could make a move to stop her, she had jumped over the tall fence and was stealthily making her way down the valley wall toward the fighters below. She looked behind her. The policeman had already lost sight of her and was stopping some reporters from trying to get in. She knew she wouldn't be followed.

Bulma suppressed her chi as low as she could make it go, and she slowly made her way down the valley wall, hiding behind bushes and trees as she went. She stopped for a moment to watch the situation below. It looked as though they had stopped fighting. She scanned the area to see who all was left standing down there. The smaller Saiyan, Vegita, was there, and so was Nappa. Of the original five fighters that had been left after Yamucha's demise, she could only see Piccolo, Gohan, and Kuririn. She couldn't see Tenshinhan or Chaozu anywhere. Suddenly Nappa leapt into the sky and flew off toward the ocean. Vegita made no move to follow, but he sat on a rock, crossed his arms and legs, and turned on his scouter. Bulma wondered what Nappa was up to.

She analyzed her situation. For some reason the fighting had been called off. This would be the perfect time to sneak up on the smaller Saiyan if it weren't for three things. One, he was the stronger of the two. Two, she wasn't sure if Nappa wasn't lying in wait somewhere close-by, ready to attack any intruders. And three, Vegita had his scouter on again. If she attacked, he might detect her in time to get out of her way. So what could she do? She could stay where she was and look for a better opportunity to attack, she could attack Vegita now, or she could instead go join forces with Kuririn and the others below. She weighed the pros and cons of each option and decided that she would try to attack Vegita now. She was going to need the element of surprise on her side, and if she joined the others now she would lose that. Plus, if she waited she might not get another chance at catching either of the Saiyans alone.

With all the stealth of a puma, she quietly crept closer to the grouping of fighters. She was less than fifty yards away when she had to stop, as she had reached the edge of her coverage with the trees and bushes. She was going to have to teleport the rest of the way and just hope she wouldn't be detected when she snapped back into real time. It didn't take her more than a moment to focus her energy, but as she watched Vegita carefully, she knew it was now or never. His scouter had just begun to pick her up.

"Rapid teleport!" she whispered quietly. She teleported out to a spot in the air ten feet directly above him. As soon as she had herself in position, she snapped back into real time and began firing off large, fast chi bursts at him. She didn't stop her assault until she was fairly certain that he wasn't going to get up and retaliate on her right away. Panting, she floated down to the ground about five feet away from where she had just blasted and focused all her senses on detecting the dangerous man. She didn't move a muscle. She kept her stare fixed on the cloud of dust and smoke in front of her and waited for it to dissipate, panting and straining to sense any indication of his chi. It was with a great deal of anxiousness and confusion that she realized she could not sense him there. When the smoke and dust had settled, she confirmed with her eyes that she was right; he wasn't there. There was only a large, scorched black spot on the rock upon which he had previously been sitting. She knew better than to think that she had actually obliterated him, so she began glancing from side to side, gritting her teeth as she tried to feel him out. Where could he have gone? She hadn't seen or felt him move while she was blasting him.

"Looking for me?" a familiar, jeering voice asked her from behind. She spun around and instinctively jumped back as she recognized the voice as belonging to Vegita. Somehow he had managed to get around behind her without her noticing. Either he was extremely fast, or he knew how to mask his chi too. She was annoyed and somewhat bewildered to see that he didn't have so much as a burn mark on his clothing. He must have completely dodged her attack.

"Damn you and your scouter!" she snapped at him angrily. "I was so certain that I'd hit you!"

"Oh, you did hit me with that little barrage of yours, if you could call it that. I was curious to see just what I could expect from you. As you can see, it wasn't much of an attack at all, though. Sorry to disappoint you."

Bulma let out an irritated sigh. Even with the element of surprise, she hadn't achieved anything more than amusing him. What on earth had she just gotten herself into?

"Be honest, girl. Did you really think you could defeat me with such a pitiful attack? Did you honestly think I was stupid enough to let you sneak up on me like that?"

"Actually, I thought you were even more stupid than that," she snapped. "I'm still unconvinced that you aren't. The only problem I see with my plan is that scouter you're wearing. If it hadn't alerted you to my presence, I might have caught you off guard."

"The weak always resort to excuses in the end," he chuckled at her, his eyes flashing brilliantly. "Still, I must say that you had guts to try to challenge me. I look forward to honoring your efforts with some of my own."

Bulma snarled angrily at him. Suddenly she sensed another large chi approaching from above. It wasn't as powerful as Vegita's, but judging from its strength, it was definitely Saiyan. Nappa had come back.

He landed next to Vegita and scowled angrily first at her and then at his partner. "Vegita, you told me you wouldn't start fighting without me!" he growled in frustration. "My scouter picked up an attack. What's going on?"

"Settle down, Nappa," Vegita replied, smirking at Bulma without even acknowledging Nappa with his eyes. "Remember her? Well, she attacked me. I wasn't trying to cheat you."

"Huh?" Nappa said, staring at Bulma with a look that belied his disbelief that someone like her would ever do such a thing. "Is she really that stupid? Did you come here to die after all, girlie?"

"I've come to fight," she growled at him, bracing herself and striking a guarded pose. "Which of you cretins is ready to take me on first?"

"Are we still gonna wait, Vegita?" Nappa asked him, grinning at Bulma and cracking his knuckles.

"I'm afraid so, Nappa," he replied. "Relax. Don't waste your time on her. If what those other three say is true, you'll have plenty of fun with Kakkorot when he gets here. _If_ he gets here, that is," he added, glancing at Bulma with an amused smirk.

"Bulma!" Kuririn hollered. "Get away from those two! Are you totally nuts?!"

"Why don't you go join your friends?" Vegita offered, tilting his head to one side as he grinned at her with another of those insufferable, toothy smirks. "You might want to consider what they have to say before you try to knock heads with Nappa and me."

Bulma gritted her teeth. "This isn't over," she said hotly, relaxing her stance a little and turning away. "I'll slap that grin off your face before the day is through; just you wait!" Grumbling angrily as he and Nappa laughed loudly at her idle threat, she trudged over to the three shocked onlookers, her cheeks burning furiously in her embarrassment.

"I see you changed your mind after all," Piccolo remarked as she walked up to them. "Perhaps now you wish you had accepted my offer."

"I changed my mind about fighting, but I don't regret turning you down," she replied stiffly, scowling at him. "I did, however, take your advice about a secret weapon. I'm not beaten yet."

Piccolo shot her an indifferent snort. "Now that you're here, I suppose you might as well stay and fight, as long as you don't slow the rest of us down," he grunted, hardening his expression. "All the same, I hope for your sake that you're prepared to die."

"Maybe I missed something here," Kuririn said angrily, "but where in the world did you learn to do all this, Bulma? I didn't even know you could fly! You couldn't possibly have learned even bukujutsu in a year, much less all the heavy-duty stuff you just threw at Vegita. What the heck is going on?"

"Actually, it only took me about three months to master flying, but that was a long time ago. Look Kuririn, to make a long story short, Yamucha's been teaching me how to fight. He taught me everything I know up until he began to train under Kami. I've also been training myself this year, and it's thanks to all that that I can do what you just saw."

"But I've never even sensed your chi before!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You've always felt like a normal human to me!"

"I kept it hidden from you," Bulma explained. "I had meant to surprise everybody at our reunion, but thanks to Raditz, I got distracted. I'm sorry; I should have told you sometime after that, but I was ashamed because Kami hadn't invited me to train with you guys."

"Well, after seeing you in action, I know now. And believe me, Bulma, this is a great time to tell me you can fight. We're going to need all the help we can get."

Piccolo grunted in what sounded like a kind of begrudged agreement. "You might say we're a little outclassed by these two," he muttered. "I just hope that Son Goku won't have the same trouble that we were having."

"Where is he anyway?" Kuririn asked Bulma. "I mean, you guys did wish back, right?"

"Yes we did, but we could only wish him back to life. He has to get back to earth on his own, and as I understand it, that could take a while. He said yesterday that it should take him an entire day to get back here from where he was."

"Well, do you have any idea when he'll be here?" Kuririn asked her.

"Not precisely," Bulma answered. "I'm sure he'll be here today, and I know that he's coming as fast as he can, but beyond that, I have no idea."

"Great," Kuririn said bitterly. "So that means we don't even know if he'll be here in time. That's very comforting. Thanks a lot, Bulma."

"Sorry," she sighed, shrugging. "Now, I have some questions for you. First of all, where are Tenshinhan and Chaozu?"

Kuririn lowered his eyes. Bulma understood what that meant, so she grit her teeth and nodded.

"I was afraid of that," she said quietly. "Who took them out? Was it those same little green weirdos that killed Yamucha?"

"How did you know about that?" Kuririn asked her, visibly perplexed. Bulma jerked her thumb at the news vans up above them.

"Oh," Kuririn replied, realizing what she meant. "Well, no, it wasn't the Saibamen. It was that big guy, Nappa. Chaozu and Tenshinhan went up against him, but even together they weren't enough. In the end, Chaozu latched onto Nappa's back and released all his energy at once. I guess he was trying to pull the same trick that that Saibaman had pulled on Yamucha. Unfortunately, even that didn't have much effect on him. Tenshinhan used up the last of his strength on an enormous kikoho blast, but as you can see, that didn't work either."

"So now we're the only ones left?" Bulma asked, gulping nervously.

"It seems so," Piccolo replied. "Still, all we have to do is hold them off long enough for Son to get here. Perhaps there is hope that some of us may survive, provided he gets here in time and is ridiculously more powerful."

"Well, so why aren't we holding them off?" Bulma said, confused. "I mean, why aren't we fighting anyway? They certainly wouldn't have given up yet."

"Vegita decided to call a draw for three hours," Kuririn said. "They want to give Goku a chance to get here."

"I'm not complaining," Bulma said, eying the two Saiyans and scowling when she noticed that Vegita was eying her back, "but that seems really stupid to me. I wouldn't wait for Goku to get here. I would kill us before Goku could join us, just in case."

"Apparently they don't consider us enough of a challenge," Piccolo replied with a sneer. "And I'm not complaining either. Son had better get here in time though, or they'll go ahead and pick up where we left off anyway."

"I hope he does," Bulma said gravely. "Otherwise, I'm afraid our chances are going to be much too slim for comfort. I've seen some of what these two are capable of and it's not pretty. I have a very bad feeling about all of this."

"Me too," Kuririn grumbled, staring dejectedly at his feet.

"Don't worry," Gohan said. "If anyone can beat those two, my dad can. They're going to wish they'd never even heard of dragonballs when he gets here."

"I hope you're right Gohan," Bulma said. "Without him, our chances don't look so hot."

"He'll be here," Gohan said confidently. "I know he will."

"Please hurry Goku," Bulma thought silently.

"Hey, weaklings!" Nappa yelled at them. "When's Kakkorot gonna be here? Wouldn't he have been here by now if he were coming? I'll bet he lost his nerve!"

"You may be right Nappa," Vegita said, grinning. "Maybe Kakkorot came to his senses and decided not to come. Isn't it a shame? You'd think he'd care more about such loyal friends than that." Their obscenely loud laughter made Bulma's blood boil.

"My dad's not afraid of you jerks!" Gohan yelled at them. "Nothing could keep him from coming here, not even his own death!"

"And when he does," Piccolo said, "you're going to be sorry you ever set foot on this planet. He's been doing a bit of special training in the afterlife to prepare for you two."

"Goku has saved this planet before," Bulma said fiercely, "and he has yet to let us down. I don't care how powerful you are. Goku's strength has always been so unpredictably high after every injury he sustains. I can't even imagine how much he'll have improved after death! I think you'll find that underestimating Goku won't be in your best interests."

Vegita laughed. "You all have such faith in him," he said. "I hope he's much stronger than you four, at least. Nappa and I haven't had a good challenge in ages!" More of that awful laughter immediately followed.

"Hmph!" Bulma grunted, turning back around to face the others. "They certainly don't have any lack in confidence. It would be wonderful to prove them wrong."

"Yeah, but it seems pretty likely that the only one who'll be able to do that is Goku," Kuririn said in frustration.

"What I wouldn't give to get a good shot at that Vegita," Bulma said angrily. "That smirk of his is driving me nuts. Those two are going to pay for what they did to our friends."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough," Piccolo said calmly, "but if I were you, I wouldn't wish all your time away. By the time the real fighting starts, you may find yourself wishing we were still waiting."

Bulma sighed. She knew it really didn't matter how angry or focused she was. She had known that coming here. There was no possible way she could beat even Nappa, much less Vegita. Although she didn't really know how Piccolo's and Gohan's training had gone, she felt pretty certain that they didn't have much chance of survival until Goku arrived.

"How much time do we have left?" Bulma asked them.

"I dunno," Kuririn said. "We're not exactly wearing watches, Bulma."

Piccolo looked up at the sun. "I'd say we have about two hours left," he said.

"This waiting is unnerving," Bulma said. "I keep expecting them to pounce on us as soon as our backs are turned. Hey Piccolo," she said, deciding to change the subject. "How did Gohan's training go? His chi is really noticeable now. It looks like you must have worked pretty hard on him."

"I've taught him all that I could," Piccolo said, without looking at Gohan. "I know that he's ready for this. He, on the other hand, seems to be having second thoughts."

"Oh, I'm ready," Gohan said, glaring at his opponents and nodding firmly. "They can't get away with talking about my dad like that." Gohan's chi flared a little for emphasis.

Bulma looked confused. "What happened?" she asked. "What second thoughts?"

"Well," Kuririn said, trying not to sound judgmental, "Gohan lost his nerve in the last battle. It was his first time though, y' know? It's understandable that it happened, after all."

"Well don't worry," Gohan said confidently. "That's not going to happen again. These turkeys are going to get it!"

Bulma glanced at Piccolo out of the corner of her eye. Was he actually smirking?! She didn't dare look him straight in the face. Was it possible that he was actually proud of Gohan? She'd never known Piccolo to care about anything but world domination or killing Goku before. Maybe Gohan had gotten to him. Maybe Piccolo was more than just the son of the former king of the demon clan.

Silently, anxiously, they waited. As the time crawled by, so did Bulma's hope of Goku's arriving on time. What was taking him so long? She knew he was doing his best to get here, but they were steadily running out of time. Why couldn't she sense him? She knew that even if he were far away, she'd be able to sense someone as powerful as Goku from a long way off. Just how far had he had to travel to get back home?

Suddenly Vegita's scouter beeped. He pressed a button on it and opened his eyes.

"Time is up," he said. "It looks like Kakkorot didn't show after all. He would have been here by now if he were coming."

"Hey Vegita," Nappa said, grinning fiendishly, "why don't you let me take care of these small fry? No sense in both of us getting dirty." He grinned at the four tense fighters in front of them.

"All right, Nappa. But don't get too carried away. Remember, we need the Namek alive."

"I won't forget," Nappa said, looking eagerly at Piccolo.

"What do they mean?" Bulma asked Kuririn. "What is a Namek?"

"Piccolo is," Kuririn replied. "He's from another planet called Namek. They think they need him to tell them about the dragonballs."

"Piccolo's from another planet?" Bulma said in disbelief. "Geez, first Goku and now this! Well, I suppose that would explain why you don't exactly look like the average earthling, Piccolo."

"I suppose so," Piccolo said indifferently. "But we don't have time to dwell on that. Now is when things are going to start getting serious. I hope you are all ready for this. Stay out of my way, and perhaps when this is over I won't be as tempted to kill you."

"Well, good luck to all of us," Bulma said, ignoring Piccolo's threat in the light of the more pressing danger. "We're just going to have to fight our hardest to stay alive until Goku gets..." Suddenly she stopped. Could that be...?

"Can you guys sense that?" she asked excitedly. "It has to be Goku! That chi is tremendous!"

"It can't be!" Piccolo declared, surprise and frustration present on his normally stoic expression. "Even someone as tenacious as Son can't be this powerful after only a year!"

"All right!" Kuririn exclaimed. "It's about damn time!"

"Daddy?" Gohan said. "Yeah! Thank goodness!"

"What are you fools babbling about?" Nappa yelled, beginning to get a little irritated by the fact that they were ignoring him. "How can you tell if he's coming when you don't have a scouter?"

"Calm down, Nappa," Vegita said, turning on his scouter. "Remember that they don't use scouters as we do. Let's see about this chi that they're talking about." He pressed a few buttons. A shocked expression quickly spread over his face as he interpreted the reading his device showed him. "They're right about one thing, Nappa," he said, getting to his feet and tensing a little. "Someone is definitely on their way here."

"What is it?" Nappa asked him, turning to look at Vegita and waiting impatiently for an assessment of their unseen opponent's strength.

"The scouter is reading five thousand!" Vegita yelled angrily.

"What?! That can't be right! Are you sure, Vegita?" Nappa gasped. "It must be a malfunction!"

"If I know Goku," Bulma said slyly, "it'll be at least five times that in battle. If a challenge is what you two want, then that's what you'll get!"

"Nappa!" Vegita barked. "Destroy them! We can't let them join forces with Kakkorot! Don't forget that these people have the ability to suppress their power and increase it at will. Kakkarot could be packing a very nasty punch, and it won't be a good idea to take any chances that even these small fry might add something to hinder his defeat."

"What?" Kuririn exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Why don't you come and do something about it, then, pipsqueak?" Nappa taunted him. "What about the Namek?" he asked Vegita. "Should I get rid of him too?"

"Yes," Vegita replied. "If the dragonballs can exist here, then they most certainly can exist on planet Namek as well. We can just go there once we've taken care of this one."

"You hear that?" Nappa asked Piccolo. "You're expendable!" Piccolo just sneered at him.

"Do you have any kind of plan, Piccolo?" Bulma asked quietly, eying Nappa as he walked off a few paces from Vegita and sized them up.

"Maybe," Piccolo replied. "But it's risky. We have to grab his tail. Once we've done that we should be able to throw whatever we want at him."

"His tail? Are you sure?" Bulma whispered in disbelief. "That sounds a little too simple to me."

"It's not going to be as simple as it sounds to get in close enough to reach it, but if we can, it'll work," Piccolo said. "It's the Saiyans' only weak spot. The problem is less of what to do once we have a hold on it, and more of how to get that hold in the first place."

"That you can leave to me," Bulma said confidently. "My 'secret weapon' will be just perfect for that. Are you sure that all I'd have to do is grab his tail?"

"Once you've gotten your hands around it just squeeze it as tightly as you can. It will completely immobilize him," Piccolo said. "Son came up with the tactic during the fight with Raditz, and it was extremely effective."

"Well, if that's true, then I'll do it," Bulma said. "I'll have no problem getting to his tail."

"Won't you need some kind of distraction?" Kuririn asked her. "He's not just going to let you stroll on over and grab it, you know. Even he's not that stupid."

"Don't worry about that," Bulma replied with a grim frown. "You can leave it to me. Just make sure you're all ready to throw your strongest attacks at him as soon as I give the signal. Don't worry about me. That ape is more than big enough to shield me from the biggest part of your onslaught, and I can block the rest."

"Alright then," Piccolo said. "Everyone focus your chi."

"Ready!" Kuririn and Gohan cried, concentrating and increasing their attack power tremendously. Bulma also gathered the energy she'd need to initiate her teleport.

"Are you fully prepared this time, kid?" Piccolo growled.

"Yes," Gohan replied confidently. "Let's do it!"

"I'm going to grab his tail," Bulma said as she prepared to teleport. "As soon as I say 'go,' be ready to fire your attacks. This will be practically instantaneous."

"Now, let's see," Nappa called out to them, grinning as he watched them tense and mutter amongst themselves. "Who will I kill first? I think it will be...you!" He pointed at Kuririn and immediately he shot forward, charging at them with incredible speed.

"Go!" Bulma yelled. "Rapid teleport!"

She raced past her friends and positioned herself behind Nappa, wrenching his tail from around his waist as she snapped back into real time. "Gotcha!" she cried. She gripped his tail tightly in her hands as she pulled him to a screeching halt, carefully watching his every movement to make sure he was really immobilized. "I said go!" She yelled to the others.

"What the..." Nappa said and turned around enough to just reach Bulma. "Let go of my tail!" He began swatting at her with his thick arms, and it was all she could do to dodge them and still keep a tight grip on his tail.

"Dammit, Piccolo, I thought you said this was his weak spot!" she hollered, dodging Nappa's sweeping blows.

"I don't have a weak spot!" Nappa snarled, and he mule-kicked Bulma hard in the stomach. She doubled over in pain and immediately loosened her hold on Nappa's tail. That was all he had been waiting for. He yanked his tail free and spun around to confront her more directly.

"Lousy tail-grabber!" he laughed, punting Bulma in the chin and sending her sailing backwards. She landed with a grunt on the hard-packed soil in front of Vegita. As she scrambled to her feet with a very unladylike curse, he laughed loudly at her.

"You should quit while you're ahead," he chuckled, grinning at her with no small degree of amusement dancing in his eyes. "I told Nappa to go easy on you, since I wanted to be the one to take you on. I'd hate for you to damage that pretty face of yours before I get the chance."

"Shut up," Bulma spat at him. "Keep your sadistic thoughts to yourself! Damn that Piccolo! I should have known that grabbing that Neanderthal's tail wouldn't work!"

"Nappa and I have evolved a bit," Vegita told her. "We don't share the same weaknesses that your Namek friend discovered in Raditz."

Bulma flung a glare of contempt at Vegita before turning and racing after Nappa, who had turned his back to her and turned his attention toward the others. She stopped about twenty feet short of him and quickly charged up her chi for something good and nasty. Maybe he hadn't been phased by having his tail grabbed, but she was bound and determined to affect him with this.

"Careful Nappa," Vegita laughed behind her. "I think you made the little mouse angry. I think she's going to try to take you out right here and now!"

Nappa's scouter beeped to alert him to Bulma's increasing strength, and he turned around to laugh at her. "All right then, powder puff!" he guffawed. "Go ahead and give it your best shot! I'll let you get one in on me free of charge!"

"Let's see how you like this, you big ape!" Bulma snarled. "_So-ki-dan_!" She formed the biggest, most powerful so-ki-dan she had ever created. She propelled it at Nappa with a flick of her outstretched fingers and he didn't even try to dodge as it made contact with him and exploded with more violence than even she had expected. The sheer force of the blast obliterated every shrub and tree within a 100-yard radius of the impact point, and it quite caught Bulma off guard, nearly knocking her flat onto her back. Needless to say, Piccolo, Kuririn, Gohan, and even Vegita were very surprised. Bulma glared triumphantly at the thinning cloud of dirt and debris surrounding Nappa. There was no way he hadn't felt that. "Take that, you thick-skulled moron!" she yelled at him, planting her fists on her hips in triumph.

"Moron?!" the cloud yelled back at her. Bulma actually jumped backward a few feet as Nappa emerged from the disintegrating haze, looking miffed but otherwise very much intact. She hadn't even scratched him. As she took a few steps away from him in surprise and horror, she found herself wondering how on earth she was going to get herself out of this mess.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Cutting it Close**

"Oh... oh my God!" she shrieked, unconsciously backing away from him. "You...you blocked it! What kind of creatures are you Saiyans, anyway? Damn your thick skin! I refuse to believe this!"

"Heh heh! That little love-tap of yours tickled me a little bit," Nappa chuckled, grinning at her as he puffed his chest out in appreciation of her appraisal. "Are you starting to realize just how out of your league I am now, short stuff?"

"You're letting that gigantic ego of yours get the better of you!" Bulma snapped at him. "The fact that you blocked my attack doesn't make you man of the year! Even if you are my superior in brute strength, I still say you're nothing but a moron!"

"Moron? You really aren't good at trying to get on your enemies' good sides! Just who are you to call me a moron?"

"Ha!" Bulma laughed loudly. "I'll give you an example. If your scouter malfunctioned, you'd be in a world of hurt, since you rely on it so heavily to detect your opponents. I'll bet you don't even know how to fix it! Well I've got news for you, _moron_! I figured out all the ins and outs of those things after one night's tinkering with the one Raditz was wearing."

It was true that Bulma was intentionally pushing his buttons, but she had an ulterior motive. The others were using this opportunity to charge up their own attacks on Nappa, and she wanted to give them a chance to get a good shot at him while his back was turned. She only hoped that she could continue to heckle Nappa long enough without getting him angry enough to seriously attack her. There wouldn't be much she could do to stop him if he did that.

"Well, who cares!" he said angrily. "It's never malfunctioned before, and even if it does, I don't need it to defeat the likes of you!"

"Even so," Bulma said, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I don't need a scouter to detect my enemies like you do. In a way, Nappa, you do have a weakness. It's that scouter!"

"Oh really? Well, just watch this!" Nappa snorted, yanking the scouter off his ear and throwing it to the ground. He smashed it with his foot and glared at Bulma defiantly. She couldn't believe he'd actually done it. She had all but convinced herself that no one could possibly be that stupid. She shot him a triumphant grin as she sensed the power that was building behind him. The others had finished powering up and were ready. Kuririn gestured for Bulma to get away from Nappa.

"Let's try this again!" she cried, shooting up into the air and charging up for another so-ki-dan. Nappa laughed and braced himself, but he hadn't seen the danger behind him yet. Bulma formed another large blast, just as Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan sent out their own attacks. All at once several distinct blasts crashed into Nappa from behind, and the whole area down there was a massive explosion. She hoped that he was being thus occupied with their blasts, and was no longer prepared for hers.

"This didn't work before because he was expecting it," she said quietly. "But let's try the same attack combined with the element of surprise!"

She powered up quickly. The others looked like they were about finished. She had to fire now!

"Gyah!" she grunted, sending her so-ki-dan hurtling down at Nappa. She watched it zoom down straight at him, and she quickly teleported over to where the other fighters were, whereupon she promptly fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily and trying to stop the world from spinning around her. That last attack had taken a lot of energy.

The others wrapped up their own blasts as well, and they all waited anxiously to observe the results of their efforts. Once again they all struggled against the shock waves created by the force of the attacks, once again the dust settled, and _once again_ Nappa emerged unscathed! Bulma sighed angrily. This was beginning to look hopeless. Nappa must have detected their attacks in time to block them. It just wasn't fair!

Nappa laughed. "Give it up!" he shouted at them. "You know you can't beat me!"

Gohan had become incredibly frustrated and angry by Nappa's constant taunting. "That's it!" he yelled. "Let me at him! I've had enough of this jerk!"

"All right kid, you just signed your death warrant!" Nappa laughed, as Gohan shot off to one side, away from Bulma and the others.

"Bring it on!" he yelled at Nappa. With a huge burst of speed, that's precisely what Nappa did.

"Little fool!" Piccolo yelled, and he made a mad dash for Nappa, despite the fact that he knew he couldn't reach him. It turned out he needn't have worried, though. Gohan met Nappa with a roundhouse kick to the face that sent the large Saiyan hurtling backwards, only to crash violently into a huge boulder. It was quite an understatement to say that everyone was stunned. All eyes were on Gohan, but his eyes were on the pile of rubble covering Nappa. Suddenly Nappa burst out of the rocks, yelling and foaming with rage. His eyes were practically popping out of their sockets, glaring at Gohan with a hatred and malevolence that Bulma had never seen anywhere before.

"That's it, kid!" he screamed. "I'm sending you straight to Hell!" He charged his chi until he'd formed a horrifically devastating blast. It was apparent that Gohan wouldn't be able to survive an attack of this magnitude. With a roar of fury, Nappa let the blast go. Gohan wasn't moving! He was petrified!

Bulma didn't have time to react. She felt rooted to the ground. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she seemed to be unable to do anything more than stand still and watch it all unfold. She felt so helpless. She just knew it was the end for Gohan. Wait a minute! Piccolo had somehow managed to jump out in front of Gohan! He was taking the entire blast himself!

Bulma watched in surprise as the dust cleared and everyone else reacted to what had just happened. She just couldn't believe it. Piccolo had sacrificed himself to save the life of Goku's son... There was no longer any doubt in her mind now. All that time that Piccolo had spent with Gohan had deeply transformed his entire character.

Piccolo had managed to remain on his feet for a couple of seconds after the blast had dissipated, but it wasn't long before he crumpled and fell forward onto the ground. Frantically, Gohan pleaded with him, begging him not to die. Bulma was moved to tears by Piccolo's selfless act. Even now, the dying Piccolo giving Gohan an order not to die, just as he himself was fading into the afterlife. With one last order for Gohan to avenge him, he died. Then, just as Goku's body had done, his disappeared into nothingness. Perhaps he too was going to be given the opportunity to train in the afterlife.

Gohan let out a howling scream of anguish. It was too much. Bulma could sense an incredible explosion of power in him as he reacted to the death of his sensei. His rage was powering a tremendous boost in strength, but Nappa, seemingly unaware of the danger, only laughed at him.

"You damn fools are making us kill you in the wrong order! Whatsa matter, kid? Did the big, scary man kill your widdle friend? Are you gonna cry?"

"Don't lower your guard, Nappa!" Vegita barked at him. "That kid's over 3,000 already!"

"Whoa!" Nappa exclaimed, paling slightly as he gaped at Gohan. "Thanks for tellin' me!"

"You would have known yourself if you hadn't destroyed your scouter, you imbecile!" Vegita snapped at him. Nappa grumbled something about where Vegita could shove his scouter just as Gohan seemed to reach his limit.

"Ki-aaaah!" he screamed, firing a tremendously strong blast at Nappa. Bulma couldn't believe the amount of energy Gohan was pouring into this blast. Piccolo had been right about Gohan; he had the potential to be a truly formidable force! Imagine what he would be like when he grew to be Goku's age! However, despite all the power Gohan was throwing at him, Nappa was holding his own remarkably well. He was doing a disappointingly masterful job of plowing through Gohan's blast, forcing the wide beam of energy to split around and away from him.

When Gohan's attack finally ended, Bulma knew that he was in trouble. That last blast had sapped him of all of his energy. He was so weak he couldn't even stand anymore, much less get away from Nappa. Now it was Nappa's turn, and he planned to take full advantage of Gohan's predicament.

"We've got to help him, Kuririn!" Bulma said frantically. "Gohan used up all his energy in that blast! He's as good as gone if we don't do something!"

"I know!" Kuririn said, gritting his teeth. "But eventually it won't make any difference. We can't hold that monster off forever!"

"Well, I don't care!" Bulma said, focusing her chi and gritting her teeth. "I'm not ready to give up yet!" She teleported between Nappa and Gohan and took a fighting stance. She wasn't about to let Nappa have his way without a fight!

"You'd better move, girlie!" Nappa said. "This is between me and the kid. I'm not about to get on Vegita's bad side just to prove a point. If you don't move, I'll move ya myself! Either way, that kid is toast!"

"If you're going to kill Gohan, you have to go through me first," she snarled at him. "I'm gonna die anyway if Goku doesn't get his lazy butt here soon, so I'd at least rather die fighting! You'd better believe I'll take you with me if that happens, you damned beast!"

"That goes double for me!" Kuririn growled, stepping up next to Bulma.

"So you're all suicidal, are you?" Nappa laughed. "All right then!" He lunged forward, shoving Bulma aside and kicking Kuririn viciously in the stomach. When Kuririn lurched forward in pain, Nappa kicked him squarely on the side of his face, sending him flying off to the side. Kuririn turned a couple of lopsided somersaults before skidding to a stop about ten yards away.

Bulma quickly scrambled to her feet and flung herself at Nappa. "You filthy brute!" she screeched. "Rouga fu-fu-ken!" She used Yamucha's signature power move in an effort to land a hard hit on Nappa's face. Unfortunately, he was much too fast for her, and he easily stepped to one side, causing her to miss her mark entirely and leave herself wide open for him. He brought his knee up and gave her a rough blow to the stomach before grabbing the back of her gi and flinging her away from him. She slid to a stop on the ground near Vegita, and she gagged a bit as she tried to recover from the hit she'd taken.

"D-damn yoouuu!" she cried, flopping over and righting herself, losing all sight of anything but Nappa, who was glaring fiendishly at Gohan. Gohan hadn't moved from his spot at all. He was so exhausted, it was all he could do to stay on his hands and knees.

"Hello again," Vegita chuckled at her. "You seem to keep coming back to me. Do you enjoy my company that much?"

Bulma ignored him. She noticed that Kuririn was struggling to get up, but he was moving awkwardly, as though his body didn't want to work right. She went pale as she realized that his back was broken. Forgetting Gohan for the moment, she ignored her screaming muscles and teleported to her friend's aid.

"Kuririn!" she shrieked, kneeling beside him and fidgeting as she was unsure of what to do with her hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, Bulma," he gasped, his face twisted in agony. "I think my back is broken. I... I just wasn't good enough. I've let everyone down!"

"Just stay still, Kuririn," Bulma said shakily. "It's not your fault. None of us was good enough – not even Piccolo. You can't feel guilty about this, or I'll never forgive you!"

"Get out of here, Bulma," he said feebly. "There's no way you can take that guy on! Just... just teleport away as quickly as you can!"

Bulma balled her hands into fists and tightly shut her tear-filled eyes as she shook her head at him. "Like hell I will! That freak's going after Gohan again! I'll be damned if I'm ready to run now! I've just got to try, Kuririn!"

Nappa loomed over Gohan, who was still on his hands and knees, struggling to get to his feet. "Hey Vegita!" Nappa shouted. "Won't it be great to see the look on Kakkorot's face when he gets here and finds his son's head smashed to pieces!" Vegita laughed and shot him an approving nod. Nappa raised his foot to strike.

"Nooooo!" Bulma screamed, rushing at Nappa. She knew she'd never reach him in time. She had hesitated too long. Nappa brought his foot down with a loud thud, making even the ground beneath her feet shake a little. Bulma stopped dead in her tracks and fell to her knees. She shut her eyes in despair and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't bear to look.

"Bulma!" Kuririn gasped. "He's here!" She raised her head. Nappa's foot was where he had intended to bring it down - with one exception. Gohan wasn't under it! Bulma looked around frantically, and let out a cry of excited joy at what she saw beside Kuririn. Gohan was atop Kinto'un, and he was very much alive and well!

Bulma glanced at Nappa. He was staring at something in the sky with a puzzled expression on his face. She looked to see what he was staring at, but she already had a pretty good idea what it was, or should I say, who it was.

"Goku!" she breathed in relief. She was so overcome with relief that she had no idea how to react. As a result, she did what came naturally to her, and she glared testily at him. Jumping to her feet, she shook an angry fist at him and began to yell at him. "It's about damn time, you big jerk!" she hollered, her eyes streaming with tears of relief. "What the hell took you so long, anyway?!"

Goku laughed and dropped down beside Kuririn and Gohan. Bulma ran over to join them while Nappa and Vegita stared at them incredulously. Kakkarot had shown up at last!

"Do you think you could have cut it any closer, you big dummy?" Bulma panted at him. "Gohan was about to get squished like a bug, for heaven's sake!"

"So I noticed!" Goku chuckled, tousling Gohan's hair a little. "But how did you get mixed up in all this mess, Bulma? Shouldn't you be at Muten Roshi's island? I figured that you'd wait it out there after you guys wished me back."

"It's a long story," Bulma sighed. "The short version of it is that Yamucha has been teaching me how to fight, and when I saw on TV what bad shape these guys were in, I came out here hoping to give them whatever help I could. I'd had the misfortune of meeting those two bastards when they obliterated Metro East, and I was sure we were all as good as dead. I really hadn't intended to get involved in this, but when I saw them kill Yamucha on TV, I knew I couldn't just sit back and wait for them to kill everyone else."

"I'd suspected something about you at Muten Roshi's," Goku exclaimed, "but I honestly didn't think you could fight!"

"Oh, I can fight all right," Bulma said, looking down at her feet and gritting her teeth angrily. "But it wasn't enough. We lost Yamucha, Chaozu, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo. Gohan and Kuririn are still alive, but they're both unable to fight anymore. I'm all right, but I'm pretty worn out, and I'm not exactly strong enough to do anything to these creeps. We tried so hard to hold out until you could get here, Goku, but for some of us, you came too late."

"Well, I'm sorry it took me so long. At least I can do something for these two now. We'll worry about the others after this is all over." Goku bent down by Kuririn. He broke what appeared to be some kind of bean into two pieces and gave one piece to Kuririn and the other to Gohan.

"Here. Eat this," he said. "It's a gift from Karin. A Sensu bean!"

Bulma glanced warily at the Saiyans as Kuririn and Gohan ate their pieces of Sensu bean. Suddenly she gasped. Gohan and Kuririn got up and brushed themselves off – even Kuririn, and his back had been broken!

"What did you give them, Goku?" she gasped. "That was amazing!"

"A Sensu bean," Goku explained. "If you eat a Sensu bean it'll cure you of your injuries and restore your energy. Since they each ate half of one they're only half healed, but I bet they feel a lot better!"

"Well, I sure do!" Kuririn exclaimed. "I'm not one hundred percent better, but I feel good enough to fight, anyway!"

"Me too!" Gohan said.

Goku laughed. "Well, don't worry about that anymore. I'll take care of these guys. You three just take a break. You did a great job, but now it's my turn."

Bulma smiled as he turned and began walking out to meet his opponents. Finally, Goku was here to make things right! A sudden thought flashed in her mind, and she passed it along to him.

"Hey Goku!" she said, causing him to turn back around. "By the way, don't rely on grabbing their tails! It doesn't work on these two like it did on Raditz."

"Thanks Bulma," Goku laughed. "It's probably a good thing you told me that."

He turned back toward Vegita and Nappa, who had gotten rather impatient by now. While they decided who was going to get to kill Goku, Bulma checked on Gohan and Kuririn.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked them as patted the dust and gravel off of themselves.

"We're fine," Kuririn said. "But how about you, Bulma? You didn't have any Sensu bean. Are you okay?"

"I'll live," Bulma said. "The worst I could end up with is a cracked rib or two. You two were the ones who took the real beating."

"Bulma?" Gohan said nervously. "Do you think my dad can beat them? They're really strong."

"So is your dad," Bulma said quickly. "He's the world's strongest fighter. If anyone can beat those two, he can."

"Look! He's going to fight Nappa first!" Kuririn exclaimed. "He sure doesn't look nervous. I hope his confidence is a real indication of how much he's improved over the past year. It'd be great to see him thrash these two."

"Yeah," Bulma agreed. "It looks like we'll finally get to see the extent of Goku's power. To tell you the truth, Nappa doesn't have me very worried. He's strong, but he's not really bright, and he looks like he gets a little dumber when he's really angry. If you ask me, Vegita is the only one that Goku should be concerned about. Did you notice how he had Nappa do all the fighting while he just sat there watching us with his scouter? Not only did he conserve his energy, but he also sized us up while he had Nappa take care of the dirty work. He knows exactly what he can expect from us by now. Besides being the more intelligent of the two, have you ever sensed such an incredible chi before? This guy is more powerful than all of us put together, and then some! He's definitely got me worried. I just hope Goku can handle him."

"Well he sure is doing well against Nappa!" Gohan said excitedly. He was right; Goku had really given Nappa a beating, and, naturally, Nappa was raging like an idiot.

"You damn low-class punk!" Nappa screamed at Goku. "How dare you!"

"It's your own fault for not backing down when I told you to," Goku returned. "You're just not used to fighting someone who's better than you."

Naturally, this statement only served to enrage the burly Saiyan further. Bulma giggled. Finally, Nappa was getting a taste of his own medicine! And boy, he didn't like it! Howling and foaming like a crazed beast, he just stood where he was, cursing Goku with words that would have made even Piccolo gasp in surprise.

"Nappa!" Vegita yelled angrily at him. "Stop throwing tantrums and concentrate! Can't you see that your own anger has become a handicap to you? You haven't even managed land even one blow yet! Calm down and control yourself before I come out there and kill you both!"

Shocked back into rationality, Nappa nodded. After a few deep breaths, he had fully regained his composure.

"All right, Kakkorot," he said, grinning fiendishly. "I'll show you who's better!"

He lunged at Goku and the fight continued. Bulma removed her eyes from the one-sided battle and focused on Vegita. He was gritting his teeth in frustration and following Goku's effortlessly flawless performance. Angrily, he yanked the scouter from his ear and crushed it in his fist.

"What's the matter, Vegetable-head?" Bulma taunted him. "Didn't I tell you not to underestimate Goku? Why are you acting so surprised? Surely you didn't expect Nappa to be able to beat him!"

Vegita sneered at her, but his eyebrow twitched noticeably. "I am a little surprised," he admitted. "I'd love to know what kind of training he had that improved his abilities this much in only one year."

"You have to admit one thing," Bulma said, turning her attention back to the fight. "If you two wanted a challenge, you've certainly got one now! It's not too late to back down, you know. I'm sure Goku will spare your lives if you apologize for what you've done and agree never to come back!"

Vegita laughed. "I can't wait to beat a more respectful tongue into that empty head of yours, woman! Your little friend may indeed be too much for Nappa, but he's definitely no match for me! If you think he can protect you from us, you're sadly mistaken!"

He yelled for a halt. Goku paused while Nappa screeched to a stop in mid-air. "Get down here this instant, Nappa," Vegita yelled disgustedly. "You've disgraced us enough. You've obviously failed me, and I'm taking over this ridiculous battle."

"No! I was just about to kill this twerp!" Nappa yelled furiously.

"Defy me again, Nappa!" Vegita roared. "Try it! So far you haven't even landed a single punch! Do as I say, or Kakarrot won't be the only one around here who dies by my hands!"

Nappa growled an incoherent retort, but he hastily relented. He sneered at Goku and said something that Bulma couldn't quite hear.

Goku made no reply, but he watched Nappa as he slowly descended to the ground. Whether he didn't trust him because of what he had said, or just out of principle, Bulma wasn't sure.

Bulma wasn't interested in watching Nappa. She was watching Vegita. He definitely looked disgusted, but he also seemed more than confident in himself. Apparently Goku didn't intimidate him a bit.

Suddenly, Gohan and Kuririn cried out in surprise. Bulma looked up to see what had scared them, and she cried out too. Nappa was heading straight for them! He opened his mouth wide, and judging from the high concentration of chi energy that was forming there, Bulma realized that a devastating attack was coming. Her mind raced. She only had enough time for a teleport. That was all. She made a hasty but calculated decision. She shoved Kuririn to the ground and threw Gohan on top of him as she braced herself. She hadn't done this to any live object other than herself, much less two at once. "I hope their atoms don't get mixed together," she thought grimly.

"Rapid teleport!" She yelled, before they had time to pry themselves apart. She teleported them about twenty yards away and was relieved to see that they looked shaken but otherwise normal. She gritted her teeth and whirled around to wait for the oncoming attack. She would have gone too, but she had deduced that Goku wouldn't make it in time to save them if Nappa had discovered their change in position and shifted course on them. It was either she or all of them, and she wasn't about to be a coward any longer. So what if she was the weakest one there? She wasn't worthless, and she was going to prove it!

She glared defiantly at the approaching Saiyan. She wasn't going to flinch or shut her eyes. She was going to face her attacker until the bitter end. As he got closer, Bulma's mind fixed on the image of Yamucha. Yamucha... perhaps she would get to see him again soon.

Just before Nappa fired his blast, he was stopped violently from underneath by an invisible force. Bulma jerked violently at the sudden vision that had presented itself to her, and she stared in shock and awe at the one who had saved her life - Goku! She had no idea how he had done it. He had moved much too fast for her normal eyesight to follow. Feeling her knees begin to wobble, Bulma breathed a shaky sigh of relief. She hadn't wanted to die. She was so very glad that Goku was there!

Goku threw the severely-injured Nappa at Vegita's feet. "He's not doing any more fighting," he told the irritated Saiyan curtly. "I suggest you take him back where you came from and get him some medical treatment." He turned back toward Bulma.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. She had sunk to her knees, and was trembling like a leaf.

"I thought it was all over there for a minute," she said shakily. "But I'm all right now, thanks to you."

"Where are Gohan and Kuririn?" Goku asked, looking very puzzled.

"I teleported them over there," she said, pointing to the two astonished fighters in the distance. "I hadn't counted on your saving the day. I figured that at least two of us could survive this way. I'd never tried it on people other than myself before, so I'm really glad it worked the way I wanted. Geez, why won't my legs work? I can't even get to my feet!"

"Where on earth did you learn that?" Goku asked, offering his hand to her and helping her onto her unstable, quaking legs. "Did Yamucha teach you that too?"

"No," Bulma replied, as Gohan and Kuririn came running over. "I developed that technique on my own. It took some practice, but I finally perfected it about a month ago." Suddenly their senses were bombarded by an enormous wave of chi energy. They spun around just in time to see Vegita fling Nappa up into the air like a rag doll.

"Die!" he snarled, blasting his partner with a wide, fatal beam of energy. Nappa yelled a few curses in protest, and then he was gone.

Bulma gasped. This guy was beyond all reason! He had even killed his own partner! She looked up at Goku and bit her lip. She shuddered to think what such a ruthless killer was capable of, and she sincerely hoped Goku could beat him.

Kuririn was the first to remember what he had meant to say earlier, once they had all recovered from their astonishment. "Bulma!" he said angrily. "Why didn't you teleport with us? I mean, it was quick thinking to send us off like that, but what was the point in it if you didn't come too?"

"Someone had to keep him on the same track," she replied, shrugging sheepishly. "I couldn't take the chance that he might change direction on me and come right back after us, because I knew I wouldn't have enough time or energy to teleport us again. I figured that this way, at least two of us would have a good chance of survival."

"That was very stupid of you, Bulma," Kuririn growled at her, "but I guess I ought to thank you. Next time though, you'd better not try to be such a hero. How would I explain it to the old master that I'd let a girl get herself killed for my sake?"

"Yeah, you've gotta be more careful, Bulma!" Gohan cried. "Daddy had it covered!"

"Maybe you guys are right, but I don't regret what I did," she muttered. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn't done it that way. I'm sure Gohan would like to finally get back to see his mother. And may I remind you, Kuririn, that you have already been wished back once?"

"Quit arguing, you two," Goku chided. "This is no time for that."

"Sorry," Bulma and Kuririn apologized in unison.

"Hey Goku," Bulma said suddenly. "How did you catch up to Nappa anyway? When I first checked, you were way too far behind him to catch him in time. I didn't even see you again until you were right in front of me."

"That was the Kaioken technique," Goku replied. "I learned that when I trained with Kaio-sama this year. It heightens everything - your speed, strength, and even your senses."

"Well, why didn't you use it earlier?" Kuririn asked. "With a technique like that, you could have finished Nappa in no time!"

"Well, if I use it too much, I can destroy my body with the sudden surge of energy," Goku laughed. "Kaio-sama said I shouldn't use it too often."

"I suppose that is a good reason," Kuririn said, gulping.

Bulma glanced at Vegita. He was glaring impatiently at them. "Goku," she said nervously, "this one has me worried. Nappa was nothing compared to him. Vegita is much smarter, and I'm sure you can sense the strength of his chi, so you must be aware of his physical capabilities too. You may have trouble with him."

"That's exactly why I want you three to go back to Muten Roshi's island now. You all deserve a break, and besides, I'd rather take this one on alone."

Bulma and Gohan began to protest, but Kuririn made them stop. "Goku's right," he said gravely. "Vegita's certain to use every dirty trick in the book, and that would include using us against Goku, if the opportunity was open to him. We'd only be a handicap to Goku if we stayed."

Both Gohan and Bulma were unable to argue with that logic. It was with reluctant, anxious hearts that they all bid Goku a fond farewell and good luck, and headed for the turtle hermit's island.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Genki Dama**

Bulma glanced over at Gohan. They had been flying for about an hour now, and he had since stopped looking behind him in the direction of Vegita and Goku. They could all still sense the two titans clashing back there, however, and all three of them were very uneasy.

Suddenly Gohan stopped and turned around. Bulma could see some new fear in his expression, so she slowed and called for Kuririn to stop. She turned to ask Gohan what was the matter, and in doing so she noticed what he was staring at. There was a strange, silvery-white light hovering in the sky above the battlefield.

"What is that?" Bulma asked. "Have you ever seen anything like it before, Kuririn?"

Kuririn flew up next to them and studied the strange light source. "I don't know what it is, Bulma," he replied, "but I don't like it. Whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't good news."

"Kuririn, is it just me," Bulma asked as an expression of horror spread across her face, "or does that kind of remind you of moonlight?"

The same expression appeared on Kuririn's face. "B-Bulma," he said. "Vegita has a tail, right?"

Bulma nodded. She and Kuririn looked at the strange light source again. They were sharing the same thought. Gohan didn't know what they were driving at, but he had a feeling that something very wrong had happened. He turned back around to face Bulma and Kuririn, and his face was set with resolve.

"I'm going back," he said firmly. "Something is definitely wrong."

"Kuririn, I'm afraid I have to agree with him," she said nervously. "You know as well as I do that if that is moonlight, then Goku could be in terrible danger. If there's anything we can do to help him out, I want to be there to do it."

Sighing, Kuririn focused his chi sense in the direction of Goku and Vegita. "One of those powers is really weak, and getting weaker by the minute," he said. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right. We'd better hurry. I have a bad feeling that Goku doesn't have much time left."

"Come on," Bulma said. "Each of you take one of my hands. I think I can teleport us there."

"Are you sure?" Kuririn asked, remembering his last encounter with Bulma's teleport technique and frowning at the memory of the disorienting experience. "Do you think you can teleport us all at once?"

"Yes," Bulma answered. "But for how far away, I don't know. It'll take a lot of energy, but I'm sure I can at least take us most of the way. It's the only way to get us there in a big hurry, Kuririn. We've been flying for nearly an hour already, and if we do the same thing back, I doubt we'll be much use to Goku, because we'll all be exhausted. This way, only I'll get myself that worn out. You two will still have a lot of fight in you."

"I trust you, Bulma," Gohan said. "I'm willing to give it a shot, so let's hurry, before something happens to my dad!" He grabbed her hand and stared expectantly at Kuririn.

Bulma looked at Kuririn for his answer. Shaking his head, he grasped Bulma's other hand and shut his eyes tightly.

"All right, Bulma," he said. "Let's go!"

Bulma grinned. "Here goes nothing!" she said. "Rapid teleport!" Instantly, Bulma began to fight against the heaviness and exertion of halted time as she propelled them toward the battlefield. It was much more difficult to fly this way, and she had already been pretty tired before she'd even started. She was able to sense the chis up ahead, but that did little to make things easier for her. After some thirty or forty minutes, she was painfully aware that she wasn't going to be able to take them all the way out to the battlefield. Her breath was coming to her in heavy gasps, and although neither Kuririn nor Gohan was very heavy, they both felt like leaden weights on her arms. When she had brought them to within a few miles of their destination, she just couldn't take anymore. The strain had become too great to bear, and she had to stop. As she snapped back into real time and let go of Kuririn and Gohan, she began to fall toward the ground, having all but pushed herself to unconsciousness with her efforts. Kuririn grabbed one of her arms before she sank too far, and he held her up on his shoulders.

"Are you all right, Bulma?" he asked her, noting the way her complexion had lost most of its color, and her breath was so labored. "Did you overdo it or something?"

"Maybe a little. I'm fine, though," she assured him. "I just have to catch my breath. That took a lot out of me."

"How close are we?" Gohan asked, glancing up ahead at the glowing orb in the sky and feeling amazed that they had come all this way in an instant.

"We have two or three miles left to go," Bulma panted. "I'm sorry, but I just ran out of steam. It'll be better if you let me run the rest of the way. You two can fly on ahead and I'll catch up to you."

"Don't sweat it, Bulma," Kuririn said. "You just have to catch your breath, right? Come on; hang onto me and I'll give you a lift there. We may need your help when we get there."

"All right," she sighed, too tired to argue. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed herself to be carried along as he and Gohan took off toward the battlefield. It wasn't so bad, really. Although Kuririn was a good deal shorter than she was, he kept a solid hold on her wrists, and she didn't shift around much while they flew. In the matter of only a few minutes, they had reached their destination, and they saw with no small degree of horror a strikingly familiar figure looming ahead of them.

"What is that?" Gohan asked nervously.

"Kuririn!" Bulma shouted. "Please tell me you don't see what I see!"

"We were right, Bulma. That weird orb really is giving off moonlight. Vegita's transformed himself," he said grimly. "This was what I was afraid of."

"Me too," she said. "Let me go; I can fly now. Let's get down lower and hide behind some of those rocks down there. I can't see Goku yet, and we'll have to know where he is before we do anything."

He did as she asked, and they flew out behind Vegita and hid behind the boulders. They couldn't see Goku anywhere, and he was so weak that they could barely feel his chi.

"What are you guys doing here?" someone hissed behind them, making them all jump in surprise. They spun around to find Yajirobe crouching behind them and glancing fearfully up at Vegita.

"You're not going to try to attack that monster, are you?" he asked in a fierce whisper. "Even Goku couldn't beat him! Don't be a bunch of idiots!"

"Where is Goku?" Kuririn asked him quickly. "What's happened to him?"

"He's in that big ape's hands, that's where he is!" Yajirobe growled. "And the same will happen to you guys if he sees you, I'm sure."

"We've got to stop him!" Gohan exclaimed. "He'll crush my dad!"

"That's impossible!" Yajirobe said firmly. "No one would be able to stop that thing; not even me!"

"But if we cut off his tail, he'll turn back into what he was before!" Bulma said suddenly. "Kuririn, we've got to get at that tail. It's the only way. He's much too strong to attack head-on."

Suddenly, the most frightening, agonizing yell came from Vegita's massive hands. It was Goku! Vegita was crushing him to death!

"I'm going to kill you slowly!" Vegita's deepened, thunderous voice laughed evilly. "You deserve nothing less for what you've done to me!"

Like a bullet, Gohan shot out from behind the rocks and out in front of Vegita before anyone could stop him. "Let go of my father!" he screamed at Vegita.

Vegita stared down at Gohan in surprise for a couple of seconds, then let out a booming laugh. "Oh, I'll let him go all right," he chuckled. "It might be one piece at a time, but I'll definitely let him go!"

"Gohan!" Goku called weakly. "Please, son, get out of here. This isn't your fight."

Kuririn and Bulma watched anxiously. Gohan had really gotten himself in trouble this time. Suddenly an idea hit Bulma.

"Kuririn!" she said excitedly. "Gohan's given us the perfect distraction! Now's our chance to cut off Vegita's tail! Can you manage it?"

"No problem," he muttered, glaring at Vegita. "Kienzan!" He formed a large, flattened disk of chi energy and held it high over his hand. "My kienzan was made for a job like this. You get ready to catch Goku when Vegita drops him. Can you teleport in there and get him out of harm's way?"

"You've got it," she cried, her determination a far greater force than her fatigue. "Leave it to me, Kuririn."

"All right Bulma," he said. "Teleport now!" He flung the sharp, rotating disk just as Bulma teleported.

Bulma reappeared a few yards directly below Goku. She realized all at once that Kuririn's loud command had been heard. Vegita jumped at the last second, evading the Kienzan. It sailed underneath Bulma and sliced the rock that she and Gohan were standing on in half, narrowly missing them both. In frustration, Bulma flew up by Vegita's fist and fired a blast of chi at his wrist in an attempt to get him to drop Goku. Surprisingly, she had caught him off guard and had actually managed to hit him with it. Unfortunately, she did little more than singe his fur.

"Is that all you can do?" he laughed at her. "Go ahead and gather your strength, foolish woman! Let's see if you can do better!"

"Don't tempt me!" Bulma yelled. "Now let Goku go!"

"I'm not through playing with him yet," Vegita cackled, grinning cruelly. "Maybe when he stops screaming I'll think about..." His sentence was cut short when he suddenly spun around and smacked Kuririn to one side with his tail. He had tried to sneak up behind Vegita to try again. Bulma shot down to her groaning friend.

"Are you all right Kuririn?" she asked him. Miraculously, he managed to pull himself up onto his feet.

"I'll be okay," he grumbled. "But I've lost my only other chance to get at his tail. I think we've lost."

"Not yet," Bulma said. "I'm not going to give up until I can't fight back at all anymore." She turned to attack Vegita, but Gohan had beaten her to him. He savagely pummeled one of Vegita's arms, causing the large ape to yell in pain and anger. Vegita dropped Goku and immediately began swatting at Gohan. Bulma flew into the air and caught Goku on his way down. Once she had a secure hold on him, she teleported with him to the same hiding place they had used previously, thoroughly startling Yajirobe in the process.

"Goku!" she said frantically. "Are you all right? Please say something!"

"Ohh..." Goku groaned. "I've been better, Bulma. I had no idea that guy could do such a thing. He said that all Saiyans do that when they look at the moon. Did I ever do such a thing, Bulma?"

"You... well, let's worry about that later, Goku. Can you move at all?" Bulma asked, deciding that this wasn't the best time to tell Goku that he had been the very one who'd killed his grandfather after going giant ape all those years ago.

"I can't stand at all," Goku said, wincing painfully. "He smashed my legs. Almost all of my energy is gone."

Suddenly they heard an enraged roar. To Bulma's utter surprise, Vegita's tail had been cut off by...Yajirobe?! Somehow, he had managed to sneak out onto the battlefield while they were talking, and he'd sliced Vegita's tail off with his katana while the large ape was occupied with trying to grab Gohan. How uncharacteristically selfless! Bulma was very impressed, even despite the fact that Yajirobe turned tail and ran for his life afterward.

"Hurry Bulma!" Goku said. "Go get Kuririn! I have a plan, but I'll need his help."

"No problem!" Kuririn exclaimed as he slid behind the boulder. "I'm already here! I hope you have one major trick up your sleeve Goku, because that guy is extremely pissed off and he's got chi to spare!"

"I'm going to go help Gohan," Bulma said. "Vegita's pretty steamed now, and he's going to kill him if I don't help."

"All right Bulma," Goku said. "I'm counting on you. Just keep your eyes open, though. There's going to be some major fireworks in a few minutes and you two won't want to get in the way."

Bulma grinned at him before racing out to join Gohan. Vegita was enraged beyond reason now.

"Who did it?" he screamed savagely. "Who cut off my tail?"

"I don't think he'd appreciate it very much if I told you who or where he is," Bulma laughed, grinning and panting as she ran up and joined Gohan on a rocky platform nearby. "But I'd be willing to bet that he's on the other side of the world by now."

"Whoever did this to me is gonna pay with his life!" Vegita raged. "He'd better run!" Vegita drew menacingly closer to them. Bulma stood her ground, but she pulled Gohan behind her. In a movement so fast she couldn't follow it, Vegita darted forward and grabbed one of her arms in one hand. He drew his other hand up in the air and formed a potent ball of chi energy above it.

"Where's Kakkorot?" he snarled. He brandished the frightening ball of chi at her and she felt a sudden chill run through her body. She was staring into the eyes of a killer, and she was very afraid. However, she wasn't about to just tell him where Goku was, either.

"I teleported him far away from here, to a place where you won't find him," she lied defiantly. "And you can just go to Hell, you monster! I'll be damned if I'm going to tell a beast like _you_ where he is!"

Vegita cackled evilly. "You know, I'd find you amusing right now if it were under different circumstances. I might even think you were somewhat enticing. But I'm in no mood for games! That fool has committed the ultimate crime against me, and I intend to make him pay for it in blood! Tell me where Kakkorot is, or I'll..."

"Or you'll what?" Gohan said angrily. He darted around Bulma and kicked Vegita squarely in the jaw, knocking him a few paces away and causing him to let his chi ball disintegrate. "Just try to touch her and you'll regret it, you creep!"

"It's over, Vegita," Bulma said coldly. "You've lost. Your tail is gone, and you can't transform anymore. Accept your defeat and leave this planet. If you leave now, you can leave with your life. If you don't, you'll lose it. It's your choice."

"Infernal brat!" he snarled, rubbing his chin and spitting some blood out on the ground. "I haven't lost. I can still destroy the lot of you. I don't need to be transformed to do something so trivial!"

Gohan's chi flared angrily. "You'll have to destroy me first!" he snapped, poising to attack.

"Gladly!" Vegita replied. They promptly took to the air and began exchanging blows.

Suddenly Bulma sensed an extraordinary level of chi over by Kuririn and Goku. She whirled around to find out what it was, and she saw Kuririn standing on the boulder with what felt like an enormously powerful energy ball, ready to strike Vegita.

Vegita and Gohan had come back down to the ground, and as Bulma darted out of their way, Vegita fired an energy blast directly at Gohan, nearly hitting him. Yelling in fury, Gohan dove at Vegita and they rolled around a bit, grappling and striking at each other on the ground. Although most of Gohan's blows were being blocked, so were many of Vegita's. Finally, Gohan got another strong punch in on Vegita's jaw. Vegita recovered quickly and flew back to fire an energy blast, only to dodge the one that Gohan had shot at him first. One after the another Gohan fired blasts of chi at Vegita, each time without success. Bulma knew that Kuririn couldn't throw that energy ball at Vegita while he was dodging around like that. How were they going to get him to hold still?

In frustration, she watched as Vegita quickly closed in on Gohan. He had backed the boy up against a cliff face and was less than fifty feet away. Panting and furious, he began walking towards Gohan, who had become fairly well winded by now. Vegita was still remarkably capable, despite his own obvious fatigue.

Bulma still had no way of defeating Vegita, but she couldn't just let him kill Gohan, either. Although her muscles were screaming at her and her energy was nearly spent, she managed to teleport to Gohan's side, and she hastily assumed an attack stance. Glaring at Vegita, she stepped forward and blocked his path to Gohan. She was thoroughly exhausted, but she wasn't out yet.

"Get out of the way," Vegita snarled at her. "This is between me and him. If you don't want to accompany him on his trip to the afterlife, I suggest you move."

"The only way you're going to get to him is through me," she panted, bracing herself on wobbly legs for the attack she knew was coming. "I promised his father that I'd protect him. You'll have to kill me first."

Vegita scowled. "I've been lenient with you so far," he said, taking another menacing step closer. "In fact, I've never been so lenient with an opponent before. I'm warning you, though, woman. My patience is not limitless. I'm only giving you one more chance to move!"

Bulma stayed right where she was. "Finally," she growled, sneering at him. "Does that mean you're going to stop talking and start fighting already?"

Before either of them made another move, they were interrupted by a yell from Yajirobe. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled impatiently at Kuririn. "Just throw the damn thing!"

Kuririn angrily shot a curse at Yajirobe and heaved the glowing ball of energy at Vegita. It was too late. The damage had been done. Bulma watched in horror as Vegita leapt up and out of the way as the ball zoomed harmlessly beneath him, and made a beeline for her and Gohan. Panicking, she spun around and grabbed onto Gohan's arm, hoping she had enough strength left to teleport them both to safety. He jerked his arm away from her, and she really began to panic.

"Come on, Gohan," she shrieked. "There's no time for this! We have to go now!"

"No!" Gohan exclaimed. "We have to deflect that Genki dama! It's searching out evil chi, and if we clear our minds and think pure thoughts we can deflect it toward Vegita! It's our only chance to beat him!"

Bulma had no idea how Gohan knew this, not to mention why he called that thing a "genki dama," but something in his voice told her that he knew what he was talking about. Rolling her eyes and groaning, she leapt to his left side and braced herself. They both stretched their arms out in front of them and waited for the impact.

"Get ready," he shouted. "Here it comes!"

Bulma rigidly stood her ground as the potent energy ball slammed into their outstretched hands and as if by divine intervention, neatly ricocheted off of them. She and Gohan slammed roughly into the rock wall behind them from the force of the blow, but they were unharmed nonetheless. Bulma watched in anticipation as the genki dama shot closer and closer to the unsuspecting Saiyan, who was preparing to fire a chi blast at the terrified Kuririn. When it was less than a second away, Vegita must have heard it, because he whirled around. For a brief moment there was a look of surprise on his face, but it soon changed to one of fear as the genki dama enveloped him and propelled him skyward. The last thing Bulma could hear coming from Vegita as he soared into the sky was an enraged yell of profanity and hatred.

Unable to hold back any longer, she jumped into the air and whooped for joy. "We did it, Gohan!" she cried, seizing him in her arms and swinging him around and around in a circle. "He's gone! We beat Vegita!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Battle's End**

While Bulma and Gohan danced a happy jig together, Kuririn ran up to congratulate them. "Great job, guys!" he exclaimed. "Your aim was absolutely perfect! I can't believe it worked! We really did it!"

Suddenly Yajirobe trotted out to share in the glory. "Wow! That was close!" he cried breathlessly. "We almost lost that one!"

"We?" Kuririn teased. "What do you mean, 'we'?"

"Hey!" Yajirobe said defensively. "Let's not forget that I was the one who cut off that monster's tail, pal! None of you bozos managed to do that!"

"All right, all right, I guess you have a point there," Bulma chuckled, grinning at Kuririn.

"I have one question for you, though," he said, turning to Bulma and scrutinizing her closely. "Where in the world did your fighting skills come from? I've never seen you fight before, and I've never heard Karin talk about you either. Who did you train under, exactly?"

"I'll explain later," Bulma said, grinning slyly. "But if you ever tell reporters that you trained me, I'll come and physically prove you wrong!" Yajirobe gulped, and he tried to laugh casually, but it came out as a nervous squeak. Of course, Gohan and Kuririn had no idea what she was talking about, and they were too excited about their victory to pay her comment much attention.

"Come on!" Gohan cried suddenly. "We completely forgot about my dad!" He went bounding over behind the boulders to inspect his father's injuries.

Kuririn ran to join him, but Bulma and Yajirobe stayed behind. She was staring at something up in the air, and Yajirobe's curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I can't believe it... that weak chi up there... could it be?" Bulma exclaimed, beginning to shake. "Whoa! Watch out! Here he comes!" She and Yajirobe darted out of the way as who else but Vegita fell unconscious to the ground.

Yajirobe immediately turned tail and ran. Understandably, the last thing he wanted was to be seen by Vegita.

Needless to say, Bulma didn't exactly adore the idea of being to close to the sure-to-be-angry Saiyan when he woke up either, but she couldn't help herself. She had to find out if he was really defeated. She crept over to him and knelt by his side as she lifted one of his wrists. He had a weak pulse, but it was steady.

"Well, look at that!" she gasped in amazement, dropping his wrist and standing up again to marvel at him. "After all that, he's still alive! I don't care if he _is_ the enemy; you can't help but admire resilience like that! But now what do we do? I... I can't kill him. I've never killed anyone before. Besides, he's already been defeated. There'd be no honor in killing an unconscious enemy. I should... I should tell the others about this. Maybe they'll know what to do with him." She turned around and noticed that Yajirobe had run for the hills. That coward!

"Yajirobe, you big coward!" she yelled after him. "Afraid of a half-dead Saiyan! Honestly." Sighing in frustration, she turned to go join Goku, Kuririn, and Gohan and tell them that Vegita was still alive.

As she turned to walk away, she stumbled and nearly fell on her face. Something had latched onto her left ankle! Bulma shrieked and jerked at her entangled foot, but found that it was being held in an iron-like grip. Shaking in terror, she looked down to see what had restrained her, hoping for all she was worth that her impulse was wrong. Unfortunately, she had been right on the money. Vegita had grabbed onto her foot with one hand, and he was glaring up at her with a look that told her just how severely ticked off he really was.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, little fool," he snarled at her. "I'm not defeated yet."

As she saw the rage and look of murder in her eyes, Bulma felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. Unable to utter more than a pathetic yelp of terror, she began to wobble unsteadily as Vegita stumbled to his feet, all the while maintaining his hold on her foot. Finally, her capacity for speech returned to her, and so did her ability to fight back. "Let go of me!" she screamed, desperately pulling her leg with all her might. Vegita only laughed sadistically, tightening his grip on her ankle and sending sharp, stabbing pains shooting through her leg.

"Surely you're not afraid of a half-dead Saiyan!" he laughed, yanking her toward him and seizing her neck with his free hand. He flew several feet off of the ground, lifting her up by her neck and eliciting more than a few frightened, gagging cries out of her. "Finding it easy to look down on me now, earth woman? Are you?!"

Bulma was unable to answer him, as his grip on her neck had made it all but impossible to breathe, much less speak. She wasn't ready to give up yet, though. As she clawed viciously at his arms, she did the only thing she could think of that might affect him. She drew her leg back and kicked him between the legs as hard as she could.

The reaction she got wasn't at all what she had expected. First, his face cracked into a wide grin. Then he began to laugh. Then, in one swift, fluid motion, he let go of her neck and slammed his fist into her ribs, sending her sailing away from him. She skidded to a stop on her back some ten or twelve feet away from him, and as she desperately struggled to fill her lungs with air, he floated over to where she had curled up into a ball and hovered over the top of her.

"Your kicks are like the taps of a baby," he chuckled sinisterly at her. "I felt nothing! Do you still dare to challenge me now? Do you?"

"Guh... go to H-hell!" she spat at him, coughing up a bit of blood and spitting it onto the dirt as she struggled to right herself. "Saiyan... bastard!"

"Bulmaaaa!" came a voice from where the others had been hiding. It was Kuririn. She shuffled onto her hands and knees as he raced up to her aid. "Bulma, I'm coming!"

He skidded to a stop beside her and glared at Vegita with a look that left little doubt how much he hated the surly Saiyan. "You keep away from her, you demon," he snarled at him, "or so help me, I'll..."

Gohan wasn't far behind him. He took up a position on the other side of Bulma and assumed a defensive pose. "Are you all right, Bulma?" he asked her, never once removing his eyes from Vegita.

"He's... he's not as weak as he looks," she wheezed, struggling mightily, but finally managing to push herself up onto her protesting legs. "Don't hold back on him, guys. He's got murder on his mind." She shook her head as she tried to make the two Vegitas in her vision rejoin each other, but failed miserably. "I... I don't think..." she was unable to finish her thought, as she fell backward and clutched at her chest, crying out in pain. She was sure she had a few broken ribs. She'd never been injured so badly before, but she hated herself for letting it break her like this. Goku was way worse off than she was, and he had somehow managed to carry on the fight with Vegita regardless.

"Kuririn!" Gohan cried. "Get Bulma out of here! I've got my second wind; I'll take care of Vegita!"

"Right," he grunted, slinging Bulma's arm over his shoulders and quickly taking to the air with her. "Be careful, Gohan!"

"This isn't over, woman!" Vegita called after them. "When I've killed the brat, we're going to finish our little discussion!"

Kuririn ignored him, but Bulma let out an angry growl through her ragged breathing. "I should have killed him," she panted.

"What happened to you?" Goku asked worriedly as Kuririn laid her down on the ground beside him. "Kuririn and Gohan said that Vegita was about to kill you!"

Bulma panted and waited for the pain to subside a little before she answered him. "I screwed up," she groaned. "I made the mistake of getting too close to him after he fell back to the ground. He was in a rotten mood when he woke up, and he took it out on me. If I'd done the first thing that came to mind and killed him while he wasn't moving, we wouldn't be having this problem now. Dammit, I hurt like hell! Yamucha never hit me this hard!"

"I've got to go help Gohan," Kuririn said anxiously. "You two stay here." He quickly disappeared from their sight as he leapt over the rocks after Gohan and Vegita.

"I'm sorry about this, Bulma," Goku groaned at her. "This is all because I wasn't strong enough to beat him by myself."

"Don't blame yourself, Goku," she grunted, grabbing onto a nearby boulder and hoisting herself upright, wincing at the excruciating pain this action spread throughout her torso. "It's not over yet. Gohan and Kuririn still have a chance. Vegita's not beaten yet, but he's much weaker than before. God, what I wouldn't give to have one of those Sensu beans right about now! Ugh!"

She dragged herself up onto the boulder and jerked herself onto her feet, crying aloud in pain as she managed to stand high enough to see over the top of it. Through eyes that were streaming tears of pain, she peered over the boulder to see how the others were doing. It didn't look good. Kuririn must have been hit pretty hard because he was lying on the ground off to one side. Gohan was fighting Vegita now, and he looked like he was really running out of steam. Bulma watched in despair as the fight slowly leaned farther and farther in Vegita's favor. As if matters couldn't get any worse, he was gradually pushing Gohan closer and closer to where she and Goku were.

Suddenly Vegita slammed Gohan with a very strong energy blast that sent him flying backwards. He landed behind the boulder next to Goku. He didn't move.

"G-Gohan!" Bulma rasped. "Are you okay?"

His only reply was to stare blankly at Bulma as if he hadn't understood the question. Bulma beat her fist against the rock in frustration. Were they truly defeated? Was this really the end of earth, and of the lives of her and her friends? As she glanced at Gohan one last time, she noticed something very peculiar. He had a tail again! Bulma's face paled as she realized what would happen if Gohan happened to look up at the light in the sky above them. If Vegita could do it, then so could he. Gohan began to regain his senses. He looked up in wonder at the white light source above him, and as his pupils dilated and began to turn red, Bulma cried aloud in terror.

"I've got to destroy that light!" she gasped, desperately trying to focus her chi in an effort to blast the thing away. "Stop looking at it, Gohan!"

"What in blazes?!" Vegita cried above her. Bulma glanced up to see Vegita hovering over them, staring at the strange scene that met his eyes. She realized that he was focused more on Goku and less on Gohan, and a sudden inspiration hit her. If only she had enough energy to pull it off, it just might work.

"I hope you like a taste of your own medicine, you asshole," she snarled, letting out a scream as she wrenched herself into teleportation and fell to her hands and knees. Feeling her energy being sapped away so quickly that she knew she had very little time to act, she seized Goku's arm and lurched forward, ignoring the searing pain in her chest and dragging him across the uneven terrain as quickly as she could. She had only managed to get them some twenty yards away before she knew that she had nothing left to give. She fell back into real time and collapsed on the ground beside Goku, every breath leaving her as a ragged cry of pain. She was done. She couldn't possibly do anything like that again.

"Bulma!" Goku cried. "What did you do?"

"I had to get us out of there, Goku," she gasped. "Gohan's transforming. As it is, we'll probably still get killed by him, but at least from here we may get to see him kill Vegita first."

They could only listen and watch as Gohan let out a ferocious roar and grew into an enormous giant oozaru. Vegita flung blasts of energy at him, but they did little or nothing to the nigh-invincible Gohan. It wasn't long before he had Vegita on the run. Suddenly, someone slid down the boulder beside them, scaring Bulma half to death.

"Man!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Gohan's really giving Vegita a beating out there! At this rate it won't be too long before he'll have finished him off altogether!"

Bulma sighed. They watched as Vegita tried several times to cut Gohan's tail off, each time without success. He was dodging left and right, barely escaping Gohan's swipes. In evading Gohan's most recent blast, he managed to fly high up in the air.

"Let's see how you like this!" he shouted as Gohan shot up in front of him. Furiously, Vegita fired off a volley of huge blasts of energy at him. Every one of them made contact, but they did little more than serve to fuel Gohan's rage.

"I can't believe Vegita has this much left," Bulma gasped. "It's incredible! Shredded and mangled though he is, he just doesn't give up!"

Suddenly Yajirobe came running through and tripped over Bulma, yelling aloud as he slammed into the ground beside her. Bulma let out an agonized yell, and he leaped to his feet in surprise. "What are you guys still doing here?" he exclaimed. "You need to be getting as far away from that thing as possible!"

"In case you hadn't noticed," Kuririn snapped at him, "these two aren't exactly in any shape to be running a marathon here. Besides, this battle isn't over yet, Yajirobe!"

"It is for me," he said obstinately. "I'm outta here! One of those apes is enough to last me for a lifetime. But two!? This is insane!" With that, he ran to the small capsule car that was parked twenty or thirty yards away and quickly shot out of sight.

Groaning, Bulma struggled to sit upright again. The next time she saw that jerk she was going to punch him in the gut and then knock him over! She noticed as she sat up that Yajirobe had dropped his katana beside her. She snatched it up and flung it at Kuririn's feet.

"Here," she growled. "Take this before I break it in half. If you ever see Yajirobe again, you can give it back to him, but I've had enough of that coward to last me forever." Kuririn just grinned at her.

Bulma glanced back up at Vegita and gasped at what she saw. Vegita had just thrown a disk of chi at Gohan's tail, and his aim had been true. The tail came right off. "Oh no!" she cried, her pained voice full of anguish. Gohan had been their last hope.

"Whoa!" Kuririn gasped. "It's not over yet! Look at that! Vegita can't get out of the way! Gohan's falling on top of him!" With an enormous crash, Gohan landed on top of Vegita as he shrank back to his normal size. They were less than twenty feet away, and from what Bulma could see, Vegita wasn't moving too easily. Gohan wasn't moving at all. She let out a ragged sigh of relief.

"I think it's over," she said aloud, resting her head against the rock she'd been leaning on and closing her eyes. "Oh God, I hope it's over!"

"Yeah," Kuririn agreed. "Hey, wait a minute! What is that?" He pointed to a strange, spherical object descending from the sky.

"I have no idea," Bulma said in consternation, squinting at it as she craned her neck to get a better view. "Look! It's landing by Vegita! Now I see! It's a Saiyan space pod! I remember seeing those things when Vegita and Nappa first landed. It's what they traveled to earth in."

"I knew it!" Kuririn growled. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let that monster get away from us, now that we've got him on the ropes!" He limped toward Vegita, brandishing Yajirobe's sword menacingly.

"Kuririn, no!" Goku cried. "Don't kill Vegita!"

"What!?" Bulma exclaimed in disbelief. "You can't be serious!"

"Yeah, Goku, are you unhinged?" Kuririn cried. "This guy's a monster! He'll come back and kill us all as soon as his injuries are healed! You're talking crazy!"

"No, Kuririn," Goku panted. "Show him... mercy!"

"Dammit, Goku," Kuririn groaned, glancing helplessly at Vegita, who was slowly but surely crawling his way into his space pod. "He's gonna get away, and then we'll all be screwed! This isn't right! He's not gonna become another Piccolo!"

Suddenly Vegita cackled feebly, as he had managed to pull himself all the way into his space pod. "You fools should have done away with me when you had the chance! When I return, you'll all regret this day. I'll come back and give you your punishment with interest!"

"Aw, shut up!" Bulma yelled over to him irritably. "At this point, I don't much care what you do, you arrogant brute. Just shut up about it and let me sleep! Goku's giving you a chance to survive, so you'd better not waste it. If you want to come back here, you'd better be ready to get thrashed again."

Vegita shot her a wicked smirk before closing his eyes and drifting off. The pod slammed shut and Kuririn stepped away from it. As it flew up and out of sight, he trudged over to where Gohan was and picked him up. He brought him to his father and sunk to his knees, looking thoroughly exhausted himself.

"Is he okay?" Goku asked Kuririn, glancing at Gohan with definite concern in his eyes.

"Yeah," Kuririn replied angrily. "But given another chance, I won't let that jerk go again!"

"Not Vegita!" Goku said impatiently. "Gohan. Is Gohan okay?"

"Oh!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Gohan! Yeah, he's all right. He's a little weak from the transformation, but he'll be fine."

Goku sighed. "That's great. How about you two?"

"I'll live," Kuririn said, grinning. "I didn't get quite as smashed as you though, buddy."

"How about you, Bulma?" Goku asked.

"Well, I guess I'm okay," she replied, wincing as she tried to stand and failed. "I've never hurt so badly before in my life, but even I didn't wind up as bad as you did, Goku. Still, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind if I was as bad off as you, just as long as the outcome of this fight was the same."

"I guess we'll have to wait for someone to find us," Kuririn sighed. "Do you think everyone went to Muten Roshi's house to wait this out?"

"I have a feeling that they did," Bulma replied. "I wish I wasn't in such sorry shape. As it is, I can't even stand, let alone fly. I left my capsules at the Kame house, so I can't drive us back. This really sucks."

"It's not as bad as you think," Kuririn said excitedly. "Look!" He pointed to a small craft descending toward them in the sky. Bulma could just barely recognize it in the evening sun. It was her capsule van! They must have found it in her capsule case and used it to come and get them. Roshi was hanging halfway out the passenger-side window, waving at them and shouting all kinds of happy greetings.

"Well isn't that convenient?" Bulma chuckled happily. "It's about damn time something lucky happened to us, isn't it?"

Goku let out a long-overdue sigh of relief. Now at last, he thought he could take it easy. The large air car landed not too far from the tired warriors, and when the large side door opened, a mass of excited people ran out. Chichi was the first to exit the van.

"Gohan!" she screamed, running over to them and practically flinging Kuririn aside as she seized her son out of his arms. Roshi brought a blanket with him, and she grabbed it and wrapped Gohan up tightly in it, cradling her son as if he was a baby.

"You should be proud of him, Chichi," Bulma sighed. "If it hadn't been for him, we would probably all be dead now. That's quite a little hero you have in your arms."

"Well, of course he is," she said proudly. "But why won't he answer me? He won't wake up!"

"He's just sleeping," Kuririn said, wincing as he rubbed the bump he'd just gotten on his head from the rock Chichi had flung him into. "I'd just let him if I were you. He's been through a lot."

"You all have," Roshi said. "I'm just glad you four managed to survive, at least."

So was Bulma. Kuririn and Roshi helped her and Goku into the van, and after everyone had piled inside, they all set out for the hospital. Roshi, Chichi, Oolong, Puar, and even Karin were there to pick them up.

"Hey Karin," Goku said, grimacing in pain. "You wouldn't happen to have anymore sensu beans, would you?"

"No, Goku, I gave you the last two that I had. But I'll have a new crop in a couple of weeks."

"I hope so," Goku said. "Because it'll take me forever to heal in the hospital."

"Don't worry, Goku," Bulma told him, flinching a little as she tried to get comfortable in her seat. "We'll all need time to heal anyway, so you'll at least have plenty of company."

Gohan stirred in Chichi's arms as he began to come to. She rocked him back and forth and showered him with kisses, but he immediately sat upright and let out a frightened gasp.

"Where... where's Dad?" he said worriedly, trying to jump out of his mother's lap and search the van for his father.

"I'm back here, son," Goku answered him. Gohan looked behind the seat to see his father lying down in the back of the van. He was beyond relief.

"What happened?" Gohan asked. "Is Vegita gone? Why can't I remember anything?"

"Vegita's gone all right," Kuririn said. "You took care of him. He got into his space pod and flew away for good!"

"He did? That's incredible!" Gohan laughed happily and settled down in his mother's lap, as she was yanking him down there insistently. "So, how did we defeat him? I still don't remember it!"

Bulma glanced back at Kuririn and shook her head at him. She didn't think they should tell Gohan about it just yet. Apparently he agreed with her.

"We'll tell you later," Kuririn said. "You've had enough excitement for one day, I think."

Gohan didn't seem to mind too much. "Bulma," he said. "I've been thinking. They said that Piccolo came from a planet named Namek. Do you think that Vegita was right and there can be other dragonballs there?"

"I'm sure there are," she said carefully. "If Piccolo's and Kami's home planet still exists, then chances are we'll find more dragonballs there."

"Then all we have to do is go to Namek, and we can find the dragonballs and wish our friends back to life there!"

"Well, it's not quite that easy," Bulma tried to explain. "First of all, I don't even know where Namek is. I've never even heard of it before."

"Hey!" Goku said suddenly. "I know just who might be able to help you with that! Hang on a second and I'll call him."

"Call him?" Bulma thought, confused.

Suddenly a strange voice began speaking from out of nowhere. "Congratulations!" it boomed. "You all did very well. You should all be very happy with such a great victory."

"Who is this?" Bulma asked nervously. "Where are you?"

"I am Kaio-sama," the voice boomed. "I trained Goku during the past year."

"Oh! So you taught him that awesome Kaioken technique!" Bulma exclaimed.

"Yes," Kaio-sama answered, chuckling proudly. "I also taught Goku how to create the genki dama."

"I never thought I'd ever get to talk to the legendary Lord of the Worlds," Karin said in amazement. "What an honor!"

"Well, back to business," Goku said quickly. "Lord Kaio, I was wondering if you could help us with something. Do you happen to know where the planet Namek is? We want to go there and use the dragonballs to wish our friends who died back to life."

"Of course I know where Namek is!" Kaio boomed. "Now let's see here, Namek... Namek...ah! Here it is! Yes. There appear to be around 100 Namekians living there at the present."

"Even such a relatively small number makes me nervous," Bulma said. "Just imagine a hundred people as strong and terrible as Piccolo. Even if we managed to get there, what would we do if we had to fight them all off to get their dragonballs?"

"I don't think that would happen," Kaio chuckled. "Piccolo was the exception, I think. Remember that he didn't grow up on Namek. He was greatly influenced by Piccolo Daimaou there on earth, you know. Anyway, the current inhabitants of Namek are a peaceful people. Oh, they can fight, but I'm sure if you explained things to them they would be more than happy to let you use their dragonballs."

"I wonder how the original Piccolo Daimaou ended up here on earth," Bulma mused. "Why was he here instead of on Namek?"

"Would you want such a beast on your planet?" Karin asked her. Bulma shook her head. "Well, I'll bet that's why the Nameks got rid of him!"

"Anyway," Bulma said, grabbing a pad of paper out of the bag they'd brought her. "Kaio-sama, you said you knew where the planet Namek is. Would you happen to know its coordinates? That would be a big help."

"Hold on a second," Kaio mumbled. "I have to convert this into Earth units here...okay! Write this down!" Bulma wrote everything down exactly as he dictated it to her.

"Good luck!" Kaio said. "And keep in touch, Goku."

"I will, Kaio-sama," Goku replied. "And thank you!"

Then everything was silent, except for the beeping of Bulma's calculator. Suddenly the silence was broken by a piercing shriek that caused everyone to jump at least a foot off their seats.

"What's the matter, Bulma?" Kuririn asked, peering around her seat and staring at her panic-stricken face.

She glanced at him and blinked a couple of times. "I've got good news, and I've got bad news," she said shakily, wincing and yelping a bit as she turned to face him and the rest of their passengers.

"What's the good news?" Gohan asked.

"The good news," she replied, "is that I've calculated how far away Namek is from earth."

"Well, what's the bad news?" Kuririn asked her.

"The bad news is that with the technology we currently have on earth, it will take us over 4,339 years to finally reach Namek!"

"What?!!" Kuririn, Gohan, and Goku exclaimed.

"I'm sorry guys," Bulma sighed. "We just don't have spaceships fast enough to make that trip."

"Yes we do!" Goku said excitedly. "We have three different Saiyan space pods to choose from! There's the one I arrived on earth in, the one that Raditz came in, and the one that Nappa came in!"

"I don't know what condition the first two are in," Bulma said slowly, "but I'm certain that Nappa's is able to fly! His looked just the same as Vegita's, and we all know how well his worked!"

"Well all right!" Gohan exclaimed. "I guess we've got a plan! Do you think you could figure out how to fly it if we got one in good shape, Bulma?"

"Well, their scouter wasn't too hard to figure out," she replied. "I guess it shouldn't be too hard! And I'll bet that if we get my dad to help it'll be even easier!"

Gohan laughed gleefully and jumped up to give Bulma a high-five. She twisted around to reach him, but she knew as soon as she'd done it that it had been a _big_ mistake.

"Oooh, I shouldn't have done that," she groaned, doubling over in pain. "If I did crack some ribs, that sure didn't help any."

"I'm so sorry Bulma," Gohan gasped. "I didn't think..."

"That's okay," she said, trying to smile. "Neither did I."

"Well that does it!" Chichi snapped. "None of you had better even mention spaceships until you've healed! You haven't even gotten to the hospital yet!"

Bulma closed her eyes and breathed slowly. She painfully eased herself into a reclining position and tried to relax. Their fight was over, but somehow, she couldn't help feeling that their adventure was just beginning.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Preparations for a Space Race**

"So, how long do they think it will take Goku to heal?" Bulma asked Kuririn, grimacing as she bent over to pick up her bag. She considered even that simple action a blessing. She had been lucky. She hadn't been hurt too seriously in the battle with Vegita, miraculously enough. The doctors said that aside from some minor cuts, bruises and scrapes, she had only badly bruised her ribs and her ankle. Much against their orders, she was leaving the hospital today. She was still quite sore, but her rate of healing was a little better than the typical human female's, and besides, she had to help her father with that spaceship.

"They don't know yet," Kuririn replied. "The head doctor says that it could be months before they even remove the bandages, and with the old master hangin' around all the time, he thinks it might take even longer."

Bulma laughed. "You know, I have a feeling that Goku isn't even the main reason Roshi keeps sticking around. I think he's more interested in those pretty nurses than he is in our injured Saiyan friend."

Kuririn laughed. "Well anyway, I just stopped by to say goodbye again and drop this off." He handed her a small notepad. "Mr. Popo told me to give this to you," he said. "He said you'd know what to do with it."

"Great!" she exclaimed, flipping through the pages slowly. "This must be all of the Namek language he'd picked up from Kami. I'll have to commit this to memory."

"It's a good thing he knew about that Namek spaceship," Kuririn said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "If we'd had to rely on Nappa's pod we would have been in bad shape."

"Quit bringing that up, will you already?" she snapped angrily. "Geez! You blow up one Saiyan space pod and you're branded for life!"

Kuririn shook his head, chuckling. "You know that we're never going to let you live that one down, Bulma. You're our technical genius all right, but you sure screwed up with that one!"

"I still say it was all that pain medication they had me on," she grumbled. "If I had been thinking clearly I wouldn't have pressed the wrong button."

"Yeah, whatever, Bulma," Kuririn laughed. "Well, just take it easy, alright? Try not to hurt yourself any worse. You know we want to get started as soon as possible, but if you push yourself too hard you may end up bedridden for a few days."

"Don't worry about me," she said, dropping the notepad into her overnight bag. "You just keep Goku in high spirits and make sure you and Gohan get lots of rest. You need to be fully healed by the time that spaceship is ready to fly us to Namek." With that she left the room and headed for the hospital lobby.

"Good luck!" Kuririn called after her. "Gohan and I should be outta here in three or four more days. We'll see you then!"

She waved back at him and walked toward the receptionist's desk to check out. She was glad she was finally going to get out of this place. She was dying to see that spaceship and how it worked. She would have gone with Mr. Popo to check it out yesterday, but the doctor sternly warned her that she was dangerously close to cracking her ribs, and flying around in a spaceship would definitely not be a good idea. She had called her dad and asked him to come to the hospital. He'd had no idea what had happened to her, so when he got there he was shocked and extremely concerned.

It had taken her nearly an hour, but she'd finally gotten her dumbfounded father up to speed on the events of the past year. Of course, she also had to explain about her training with Yamucha, but he seemed to believe that a little more easily than he did her story of the fight with the Saiyans. The television station he had been watching had lost its broadcast of the fight after Tenshinhan's demise, due to all the energy in the air, so he had missed his daughter's big entrance and everything afterwards. He had a little trouble believing that his "little Bulma" was that skilled as a fighter, but after Kuririn, Goku, and Gohan backed her up, he finally was convinced. After filling him in on the situation, she sent him with Popo to check out the spaceship. Not only did it fly, but it had also reached Jupiter within seconds of blastoff!

They had discovered that it only responded to Namekian vocal commands, so Popo had offered to teach Bulma everything he knew about the language. She gladly accepted, knowing also that such knowledge might come in handy on Namek, since it wasn't very likely that the Nameks spoke her language.

Bulma, now in the hospital parking lot, suddenly realized that she didn't have any automobile capsules with her. "Oh well," she thought with a grin as she floated up into the air. "At least this way I'll get to work out all these sore muscles!" She flew off slowly toward her parents' house, wondering what a Namekian spaceship would look like.

- - - - -

"Well Dad, I think we've finally outdone ourselves this time," Bulma said, stepping back to inspect their last finishing touches. "This is definitely some of the best work we've ever done."

The spaceship was finally ready to go. It had taken them five days of nearly nonstop work, but their labor had finally paid off.

"I agree," Dr. Briefs replied, wiping a bit of grease onto his lab coat. "I'm really pleased with the way this thing turned out. And the advances in technology that we've discovered are astounding!"

"My favorite is the fuel," Bulma said. "Who ever heard of using salt water as a fuel source? And not only that, it's nearly self-sufficient! We can get a million light-years to the gallon!"

"You'd better go call your buddies at the hospital and tell them it's finished," Dr. Briefs said, glancing at his watch. "And don't forget to tell Goku that I'm resuming my work on his ship tomorrow."

"I know Gohan and Kuririn will be glad to hear the news," Bulma sighed. "We're all anxious to get to Namek and wish the others back before Vegita gets there. I just hope we get there first. We barely defeated him here, even with Goku's help. I hate to think of what might happen if we get to Namek and Vegita's already there."

"This whole fighting thing has your mother very worried," Dr. Briefs sighed, "and I'm not exactly thrilled about it either. Just do me a favor and promise me something, Bulma. I want you to promise me that, even if you don't get to wish Yamucha back, you'll come back to us alive."

"Dad, you know I have no way of knowing what might happen to us up there," she said, hugging him warmly. "I can't make that promise, but don't worry. I'm sure everything will work out. After all, I did inherit your good sense, didn't I?" She kissed him on the cheek and ran into the house to call Kuririn.

"That's what I'm afraid of," her father said softly, shaking his head.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: A Timely Discovery**

The next day, the spaceship was all set for takeoff, and everyone was packed and ready to go. Although Bulma and Kuririn had packed rather lightly, Chichi had brought all kinds of unnecessary items for Gohan. On top of that, he was sporting a brand new bowl-haircut, and was dressed in the most humiliating "mama's boy" outfit Bulma had ever seen. He was too embarrassed to look Bulma or Kuririn in the face, but he didn't complain about his discomfort to his mother, which was probably a good thing for him.

After they had packed all of Gohan's luggage onto the entry deck, the obligatory round of farewells and well-wishing began. It was the part of the trip that Bulma had looked forward to the least, because it was only a reminder to all present that this may be the last time they would all see her or the boys.

"Be careful, Gohan," Chichi said, trying to hold the tears back but failing miserably. "Always remember that I love you very much."

"I know, Mom," Gohan said. "And please don't worry. I'm going to be just fine."

"I'm going to hold you to that," she said, straightening his tie and sniffing a little. "Be sure and show those aliens how polite earth-boys are, okay? And remember to follow the study schedule I packed with your books! Your cram school may be out for the summer, but your brain isn't!"

Bulma shifted uncomfortably. She wondered how much study time Gohan was going to get once they arrived on Namek. She hoped Chichi didn't ground him or anything if he didn't get all his exercises done.

Good luck, Kuririn," Roshi said, shaking Kuririn's hand firmly. "You three be careful, now. Don't bring back any strange diseases from those space ladies, even if they do let you see their- _Yeowch!_"

While the old pervert hopped around on one foot in an attempt to hasten his recovery from the foot-stomping Bulma had just given him, Kuririn let out an embarrassed laugh. "Don't worry, sensei," he told him. "I'm sure we'll be just fine. At least we'll have a good head start on Vegita when we get there; he was way worse off than we were when he left."

"Some people have no respect for their elders," Roshi muttered under his breath as he glared at Bulma, who had turned her head away from him and crossed her arms. "Ergh... anyway, Goku said to tell you he'll catch up with you as soon as he can get out of that hospital. The doctors are havin' a tough time keepin' him on his back, but if we find a way to hog-tie the boy to his bed long enough, he'll heal pretty quick."

"I'm sure my dad will have Goku's ship ready in a jiffy, too," Bulma said, glancing back toward their own craft. The discoveries we've made from the rebuilding of this ship have really improved his design. He should have it finished within a couple of weeks if he takes off from work, and as I understand it, he has plenty of time to spare this time of year. By the time Goku gets out of the hospital, his ride should be ready for him."

After many more heartfelt good-byes and good lucks, Bulma finally managed to convince everyone that if they wanted to stay ahead of Vegita, they ought to get a move on. They each waved and grinned at their audience of friends and family as the platform they were standing on began rising into the ship. When they had finally reached the safety of the ship's cabin, Kuririn was unable to hold his mirth back any longer, and he promptly fell to his back and rolled back and forth, laughing hysterically and pointing at Gohan.

"Ho boy, Gohan! Where'd your mom buy those clothes? Or no, wait, let me guess! The store paid her to take them, didn't they? Hwa ha ha!"

Bulma glared angrily at Kuririn. She had wanted to be tactful in case Gohan was sensitive about his dorky garb, but instead of being hurt, he just laughed along with Kuririn, even if his cheeks were bright red.

"I don't know," he chuckled, "but they would have had to break the bank to make me take these awful things! I had to wear them, though. My mom was so dead-set against my going in the first place, so I guess I kind of owed her something for giving in and finally letting me go. But hey, just because I'm wearing it now doesn't mean I can't change it later. I have some much better clothes in my suitcase. I'll put 'em on when we escape Earth's gravity. I figure by then I'll be far enough away from my mom to be safe."

"I hope you aren't expecting to experience weightlessness," Bulma warned him, grinning at the extreme measures he was willing to take in an effort to keep off his mom's bad side. "The effects of that would weaken our bodies too much. My dad and I invented a machine that simulates Earth's gravity. We have one on the ship, and as soon as we've escaped the Earth's atmosphere, I'm going to switch it on with the rest of the ship's instruments. Anyway," she added, grabbing a couple of suitcases and a box, "Let's pack all this stuff in the cargo bay so it doesn't fly all over the cabin when we take off. I wanna get out of here sometime today, but with all the stuff Chichi packed Gohan, we could spend half the day packing it somewhere secure! Sheesh!"

After ten minutes of hasty shoving, grunting, and cramming, they had finally managed to stuff all of Gohan's belongings into all the storage spaces Bulma had available for them. She hoped they wouldn't have to bring any souvenirs back from where they were going, because they sure didn't have room for them! She told Gohan and Kuririn to buckle up; she was about to take off.

Kuririn and Gohan followed her up to the bridge and got into their seats, fastening their restraint harnesses as she did the same. "All right! We're ready for blastoff, Captain Briefs," Kuririn said with a brisk salute and a silly grin.

"Knock it off," Bulma said, laughing. "Now hold on. This could be a little unnerving." After calling out a final warning over the outside loudspeaker for everyone to clear the area, she called out the Namek command for blastoff. Instantly, the ship jumped skyward, ascending through the atmosphere at an incredible rate of speed. Bulma and her passengers were roughly pressed down into their seats by the awesome force of their acceleration, and even Bulma found the experience a little uncomfortable, even though she'd already experienced it several times during flight tests with her father. She grit her teeth and kept her eyes on the controls. So far so good. In a matter of seconds they had already left the earth's gravitational field. So much for the hard part. The ship would do the rest for them now, thanks to the preprogrammed flight path. She switched on the gravity machine, and she put the ship on autopilot.

"There," she said, unfastening her restraint harness. "Now all I have to do is check our coordinates every eight hours to make sure our periodic error corrector is functioning properly, and we should reach Namek in about two and a half weeks."

She got out of her chair and turned around, beaming triumphantly at Kuririn and Gohan. She took one look at the two "warriors" and nearly fell over laughing. Gohan was as white as a sheet and was dripping with sweat. He looked as if he were about to faint. Kuririn was hunched over in his seat, still gripping the armrests with his white-knuckled hands. He was holding them so tightly, in fact, that even though they had been cast in solid, treated titanium, he had pressed large dents into them with his fingers. He looked up at Bulma weakly.

"Are we there yet?" he asked her with a woozy grin.

"No," she chuckled. "But don't worry. You won't go through anything like that again until we reach Namek; I promise."

Kuririn nodded and took a couple of deep breaths. Bulma glanced at Gohan again and noticed that he was beginning to get some of his color back.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I guess so," he answered, unbuckling himself from his seat. "At least my stomach isn't in my feet anymore," he added, grinning at Bulma.

"How far away from Earth are we?" Kuririn asked, getting off his seat.

"Come on; I'll show you," Bulma said, leading them to the rear of the ship. She led them to a small window and pointed toward the middle of it.

"You see that really bright dot there?" she asked them.

"Yeah," they both replied.

"That's the sun," she explained. "D'you see that faint, bluish spot just to the right of it?"

"No," Kuririn said, squinting at it.

"I can just barely make it out, Bulma," Gohan said.

"Well, I can't see it anymore," she said, shrugging. "But that was Earth."

"Whoa!" Kuririn exclaimed. "We're going fast!"

"Yeah," Bulma said, chuckling proudly as they walked back up to the front of the ship. We're past the solar system now, and in a few minutes we'll have exited the Milky Way galaxy. Then we'll go _really_ fast!"

"Wow!" Gohan breathed. "So what do we do now?"

"Anything you want," she replied. "As for me, I'm going to work on learning more Namek phrases. I've learned all the ones that apply to the spaceship by heart, but I want to learn the other stuff too, in case we need to use it on Namek."

"Hey, Bulma," Kuririn said, looking around. "Um... do we have beds on this ship?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, guys!" she exclaimed, digging through her travel bag. "I completely forgot! Ah! Here they are!" She handed Gohan and Kuririn each a small booklet.

"What are these?" Kuririn asked her.

"These are detailed maps of the ship, telling you where to find what you want and the Namek command for each one. Since you two haven't studied Namek, I've written each name beside each item in the book. They're written phonetically, or spelled like they sound, so you'll probably get the hang of it with little difficulty. All you have to do is say the word and what you ask for will come to you by one way or another. I won't go into too much detail about that just now, though. Anyway, I'll sleep out here by the controls, and your beds are in the rear of the ship, as you'll see in those little booklets. Feel free to explore all you want, but don't ever touch any of these controls. They're the only things off limits to you."

"Thanks!" Kuririn said, amazed.

"This is so cool!" Gohan said, flipping through the pages of his booklet. "You've thought of everything, Bulma!"

"Well, Dad and I worked really hard on this ship, but since we rushed through it, the chances are pretty good that we forgot a few things. But hey, we've got all the necessities, at least," she said, giggling as Gohan got to the page with the instructions for the video game system. That had been her father's idea, but she still wasn't quite clear on his reasoning for it, though.

"Do you have any more questions?" she asked, pulling out her Namek study aid and settling into the captain's chair.

"I guess not!" Kuririn said, still looking very amazed indeed. He and Gohan turned and walked back down the hallway to go test out a few of the Namek commands.

Bulma sighed. She tried to begin studying again, but her mind wandered this time. What was Yamucha doing now? Did he know what she was doing? Was she ever going to see him again? She wished she knew the answers. She set Popo's notepad on her lap and listened to Gohan and Kuririn laugh as they tried out each Namek command, smiling faintly. They were depending on her to get them to Namek. She hoped she wouldn't fail them.

- - - - -

Bulma yawned. She'd been doing the same things for the past eight days and she was sick of all of it. If she ever had to open that stupid Namek notepad again she was going to scream. She'd learned all of it by heart and was so sick of reading it that it took all of her self-control to keep from jettisoning it out into space. At least she knew its contents so well by now that she wouldn't _have_ to open the damn thing again.

She checked the ship's coordinates again. Good. They were still on the right track. Her dad's calculations were way more precise than her original ones had been. She just hoped that nothing would knock them off course. It would be terribly difficult to get the ship back on its original flight path if they got sidetracked somehow.

She got up and walked back to see what Gohan and Kuririn were up to. They were mentally sparring again. They had let Bulma try her luck at it, but she just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. She kept trying to throw real blasts and punches at them, so Gohan and Kuririn had told her they'd teach her later, in a place where her blasts wouldn't run the risk of tearing the ship apart.

Bulma turned around and walked back to her "room." She was going to go crazy if she couldn't find anything to keep her occupied on this stupid journey. She still couldn't believe she had overlooked such a critical detail of her preparations for their trip. She only hoped that the boredom wouldn't give her a nasty case of space madness.

They still had more than a week to go before they would even enter the star cluster where Namek's suns were located, and she had no idea what she could do until then. She'd even beaten all the video games in between study sessions – some of them more than once. There was nothing to do but sleep until she had to check the ship's coordinates again.

She settled into her seat and closed her eyes. She hated taking so many naps. She was certain that if she didn't start working out soon she was going to get weaker. Sighing, she thought of the fight on earth. Although she'd trained with Yamucha for nearly five years, she had been totally unprepared for the first real battle that had come her way. The fact that she'd survived it at all was nothing short of a miracle; if it hadn't been for the fact that Vegita seemed so eager to toy with her, she probably would've been killed early on.

Now _there_ was a guy she hadn't wanted to think about in the dark loneliness of space. That guy was more than scary; he was terrifying. Those eyes of his had shown her a power and drive to kill that she'd never seen in anyone before. She really hoped that he'd be unable to do much of anything for a good, long time. At the very least she hoped he'd be laid up long enough to keep from disturbing their trip to Namek. Hopefully the Nameks would be really strong, because whether he came while they were there or not, he'd come eventually. She wondered if they and Goku ought to stay and make sure that when he did come, he didn't kill anybody. It was a disturbing thought; not knowing when to expect him, if ever. From every angle that she looked at it, Goku had set both their planets up for a big problem in letting Vegita go. She'd have to remember to complain to him about it when he finally did join them.

Still, one good thing had come out of that battle with the Saiyans, and that was her mastery of her teleport technique. True, it hadn't worked the way had thought it would, but it had been helpful, nonetheless. Also, there was no denying that its continued use had made her stronger, both in will and in body. Sure, she wasn't near the level of Goku - or even Gohan and Kuririn for that matter - but at least she knew one technique that they didn't.

It really didn't make sense to her – from the viewpoints of both a scientist and a martial artist – how her technique really worked. It was like physics just went out the window, and a whole new set of physical laws went into effect. Even in the sense of her own chi and mental abilities, she wasn't quite sure how she had stumbled onto it. One day, it had just kind of clicked, and she had realized that she knew how to teleport an object from one place to another. When she had applied the same principle to herself, she had stumbled into a strange, new reality.

Bulma couldn't help thinking about how strange it was to see time stand still. Everything was silenced and stopped, except for her, of course. Unless she was holding onto someone or something else, she was always the only one who moved while she teleported.

Suddenly a strange thought occurred to her. Time's stopping had unaffected her, except for a quicker drain of her energy, and therefore, her body had gone through all its normal functions, such blood flow and breathing. Consequently, if she had breathed air, then that would mean that she had moved the air. Even though all motion on earth had stopped, she had created motion just from her own actions and movements.

Her eyes shot open and she bolted upright as she was struck by another possibility. What if she could manipulate and move other objects as she teleported? If that were possible, then she might even be able to fight during a teleport! Imagine being able to attack an opponent who couldn't hit you back! She grinned. If she could really do that, then it wouldn't matter as much if she was the weaker fighter. What an advantage that would be! She had to test her theory out. She just had to know if it was possible, and she knew she wouldn't be able to wait for the eight days they had left to crawl away to find out.

She looked around. Would it be safe to test her theory out here? She didn't want to do anything that might put their lives in danger. Her curiosity outweighed her caution, though. She didn't think it would harm anything to try, as long as she didn't get carried away and start firing off chi blasts.

She looked back at Kuririn and Gohan. They were still mentally sparring back there. Smiling, Bulma thought of a great way to test her theory. She dug around in her clothing bag until she found her red scarf. Turning toward the boys' quarters, she quietly began to charge up a bit of chi.

"Huh?" she heard Kuririn say, as his senses picked up her increase in energy and shook him from his sparring exercise. "Bulma, what are you doing?"

"Rapid teleport!" was her only reply. Once again she was immersed in a still, blue environment. She carefully stepped around her chair and walked back toward Gohan and Kuririn. She couldn't help laughing at the expressions on their faces. Gohan had turned his head toward the bridge with a puzzled expression, but Kuririn was already halfway off the bed, eyes wide open and mouth agape. Bulma crouched down in front of him and studied his face for a moment as she tried to decide what she'd do first. After a moment or two, she took a calming breath and pushed his eyelids down with two fingers.

They stayed where she pushed them! She stood upright and walked around behind him on the bed. She tied her scarf around his head, covering his eyes with it and feeling her cheeks flush as the excitement of her experiment took hold of her. She let go of the ends of the scarf and nearly snapped back into real time at the shock of seeing them hang suspended in the air, exactly where she had released them. Staring at them in wonder, she reached a hand forward and touched one with a single fingertip. It left a little divot where her finger had pressed the fabric, and it remained there. She looked down at the bed to see that her own footprints were still intact, adding very strange-looking valleys to the mess of disheveled bedclothes. Giggling, she shaped the ends of the scarf into long bunny ears above Kuririn's head and promptly hopped down to admire and laugh at her masterpiece. It was simply too amazing! How could she have missed making such a critical discovery in her teleportation training?

She was finally satisfied; she had learned the truth, and it had pleased her more than she would have dared to hope. She let time resume and stepped out of Kuririn's way as he stumbled forward and cried aloud in surprise.

"What in the world?" he exclaimed. "I can't see! I'm blind!" His hands flew to his eyes, and his horrified expression changed to one of confusion as he found the scarf. Bulma lost all control of her repressed giggles and chortles.

"Oh, Kuririn! I'm sorry I did this to you, but I just couldn't resist!" she laughed, covering her mouth and hunching over as he slid the scarf up off of his face and stared at her. "Your face was so expressive; I just had to mess with you!"

"How did you do that, Bulma?" he asked, trying to regain his dignity after flipping out over a scarf. "It just appeared all of the sudden!"

"Yeah," Gohan gasped. "And so did you, Bulma! What happened?"

"Just calm down, and I'll tell you how I did it," she chuckled, gasping for breath and sitting down next to Kuririn on the bed. She knew she owed them both an explanation, especially Kuririn.

She told them about her discovery, and what advantages it might give them. They were both very excited about the possibilities. With a skill like that, they would have a fighting chance if Vegita did show up on Namek! Shoot, maybe they wouldn't even need Goku!

"Do you know how much this knowledge would have helped us in the battle with Vegita and Nappa?" she asked, frowning a little as it occurred to her for the first time. "I mean, think about it! I could've cut off Vegita's tail long before Yajirobe had plucked up the courage, and I could've gotten Goku out of his hands earlier too. I'll bet there were all kinds of opportunities for me to keep terrible things from happening, but I had been too focused on improving my stamina and speed with that technique to realize its true potential. I'm sorry, guys. I dropped the ball on this one big time."

"It's not your fault, Bulma," Kuririn said, shaking his head and smiling kindly at her. "It's always easier to look back and see things that could've been done differently. Worrying about it now won't help anything. The important thing isn't that you didn't figure it out then, but that you figured it out at all! Now that you have that kind of ace in the hole, we'll be able to take a few more chances, won't we?"

"Yeah, don't be so hard on yourself, Bulma," Gohan told her. "My dad always says that what's happened in the past is done and gone, and that we really only need to worry about making sure things are good right now. Things look pretty good right now to me!"

She was about to thank them for their kind words and agree that maybe she was being a little unreasonable with herself, when suddenly one of the ship's alarms went off. Everyone jumped in surprise at the sudden, sharp noise of the alarm. What was going on?

Bulma sprinted to the control panel to see which alarm had gone off, and why. There was a large blip on the radar screen. Maybe it was an asteroid. Whatever it was, Bulma wasn't very happy about it.

"What is it, Bulma?" Gohan asked her. "Is something wrong with the ship?"

"No," she said, eyeballing the blip's movement on the radar screen and frowning. "Something big's appeared on the radar screen. Normally the ship's radar alarm system shouldn't kick in unless it picks up a large object that could potentially enter our flight path. I need to see if there's a possibility of a collision." She ran a quick check on the data that had been recorded on the object so far, and she ran a quick extrapolation algorithm to see if she could predict its flight path, as well as whether it would cross theirs at any point. The reply she got back was worse than she had expected. The object definitely wasn't an asteroid. Judging from its varying speed and direction changes, it was being piloted, not simply floating around. That meant that somebody – or something – was approaching them, and it might not be an accident, either.

"There seems to be a very large spacecraft making a direct approach toward us," she said anxiously. "I don't know if whoever's piloting the thing is friendly, but I don't exactly feel like risking it, especially considering the fact that our ship is tiny compared to theirs."

"Look!" Gohan exclaimed, pointing to a swarm of small objects coming at them. "What are they?"

His question was promptly answered when one of the small crafts fired a laser beam at them, grazing the top of the ship. Soon the swarm was all around them, each one equipped with its own laser beam.

"Buckle up! _Now_!" Bulma commanded. Kuririn and Gohan did as they were told, and Bulma activated the ship's self defense system. The Namek ship had come remarkably well equipped in the department of self-defense. Whenever its radar picked up one of the bogeys, it blasted it with its small particle cannons, which were located in several key points all around the outside of the ship. As soon as it had begun, the attack was over, and all of their enemies had either been blown to bits or made a hasty retreat.

"Whew!" Bulma breathed. "That was close! I guess now we know that they aren't friendly. I don't see any more little attack pods on the radar, but that big ship is still heading our way."

"I don't see anything," Kuririn said, looking out the window.

"Wait a minute!" Gohan exclaimed. "What's that?" He pointed to a small white speck off in the distance. They all watched as it grew larger. It wasn't long before they could see its features clearly, and they were very surprised by the familiar object that made its way toward them.

"That looks just like our ship!" he exclaimed. "Maybe some Nameks came to meet us halfway?"

"I don't know about that, but I do know one thing," Bulma said, her face paling a little. "If they don't turn around soon, we're going to collide!"

"Uh... Bulma?" Kuririn said nervously. "Maybe we should get out of its way."

"I think that's a very good idea," Bulma cried. She gave the ship the order to turn right, and they all watched with bated breath as they began to bank to the right. "This is going to be close!"

"It's turning too," Gohan gasped.

"Look out! We're going to crash!" Bulma yelled. They all braced themselves for the impact. Just as they were about to hit, they seemed to fall into the other ship, and then they were surrounded by darkness. The ship gave a harsh jerk, and all at once they realized that they couldn't hear the light buzz of the engine any longer.

"What just happened?" Bulma wondered aloud.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Freeza?**

Bulma got up out of her chair and began feeling around for the emergency backup switch. The ship should never have completely shut off like this.

"What's wrong, Bulma?" Kuririn called out through the darkness. "Why are all the lights out?"

"Damn!" she said angrily, flipping the backup switch on and off repeatedly, but to no avail. She knelt down and yanked one of the emergency kits out from under her seat. "Well this is just perfect!" she snapped, fishing out a flashlight. "They've taken control of the ship. I don't know how they did it, but our friends from another world have pulled our ship into theirs and shut off our power."

"How could they have done that?" Gohan asked, as Bulma turned on the flashlight and began digging under her seat again. "Their ship was exactly like ours, wasn't it?"

"I don't think so," she replied. "That blip on the radar screen was much too big to belong to a ship our size. They must have deceived us somehow."

"Yeah," Kuririn said, as Bulma tossed him and Gohan each a flashlight. "But just who are 'they,' exactly?"

"I don't know," Bulma said, walking over onto the entry platform, "but I'm going to find out. No one hijacks my ship without a fight! Are you two coming?"

"We're with you, Bulma," Kuririn said, as he and Gohan hopped out of their chairs. "Let's just hope that we're not in over our heads!" They trotted over and stood beside Bulma on the entry platform.

"Piccolo!" she commanded. The platform slowly lowered itself to the floor of the enemy spacecraft. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan warily crept out from under their ship and peered out at their surroundings.

"What is this place?" Kuririrn wondered aloud. Suddenly, bright lights snapped on above them, making them jump.

"It looks like a hangar," Bulma said. "See! There are some of those little robotic attack pods that swarmed us earlier!"

"Where is everybody?" Gohan asked as they explored the hangar. "I'd felt sure that we'd be greeted by armed space pirates or something. Pretty rude hijackers, huh?"

"Look!" Bulma said, pointing to a hallway on the other side of the hangar. "I don't see any other doorways. Come on. It might be a trap, but we don't exactly have a lot of options, here."

"I guess you're right," Kuririn agreed. "Just the same, we'd better be careful."

They crept over to the doorway and peered inside, but no one appeared to be in there. It was dimly lit for as far as Bulma could see. Constantly watching all around them, the three wary travelers made their way down the hallway.

"Well," Bulma said after a few minutes. "Maybe this place isn't booby-trapped after all." Just then, gun ports opened in the walls, and they were suddenly aware that Bulma had spoken too soon. The guns began firing a barrage of bullets at them, and they were forced to run the gauntlet down the hallway. More guns appeared on the walls as they ran. They'd walked into a trap, all right!

"Look!" Kuririn shouted over the din of the bullets. "There's a light up there! Turn right!" They dove into the new hallway, frantically checking the walls for more gun ports.

"If you think that you can kill us with a few pieces of lead, then think again!" Bulma hollered angrily.

"Don't make them mad, Bulma," Kuririn groaned. "They have an advantage over us, you know. We're on _their_ turf."

"I don't care!" Bulma snapped. "We didn't do anything to them! They have no right to attack us like this! When I find whoever's behind this, I'll give 'em a few _real_ reasons to shoot at me!"

Suddenly, large metal doors dropped down from the ceiling behind and in front of them. Before they had time to react, a strange, corrosive goo began oozing out of the walls. A little bit dripped onto Kuririn's hat and began eating it away. Bulma quickly yanked it off of his head and threw it onto the ground. The trio quickly flew up a few inches to get out of reach of the smelly acid.

"What should we do?" Bulma asked, as Kuririn quickly grabbed his hat before any more of the stuff could get to it. "We can't stay here much longer. I'm sure we can avoid this acid for a while, but the fumes smell toxic. We've got to get out of here!"

"One exit, coming right up!" Kuririn said, and he blasted through one of the doors. They flew away from the poisonous fumes as quickly as they could, and they ran down several more hallways, each one appearing no different from the last. After about five minutes of running like this, they stopped to try to figure out where they were.

"You know, I'd swear I've seen this hallway before," Bulma grumbled.

"I've been thinking the same thing," Kuririn replied. "I think we've been going in circles."

"I'm beginning to feel very unwelcome," she said with an angry scowl. "I wish I could at least see who I'm running from. I'm tired of feeling like a rat in a maze."

"Hey, look at that!" Kuririn said, pointing at an odd panel on the ceiling. It was a slightly different hue from all the others.

"Hmmm..." Bulma said, floating up so she could see it better. "I wonder what will happen if I move this thing around..." She found that she could push the panel up and turn it, so she did. The result was a new doorway opening next to Gohan.

"Should we go in?" Gohan asked. "It's probably another trap."

"I know," Bulma sighed, "but we ought to keep moving. We're bound to come to the end of this string of booby-traps sooner or later. Besides, we can't go back. We know what's waiting for us back there."

They decided that she was right. They stepped boldly through the doorway, which snapped shut almost immediately.

"Here we go again," Kuririn grumbled. Suddenly the floor gave way beneath them, and they realized in horror that they were about to be sucked out into space! As they fell down a chute toward certain death, they simultaneously realized what had to be done. Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn stretched their arms downward and shot enormous chi blasts toward the void, propelling themselves back up the chute. They flew down the new corridor in this way until Kuririn spied a switch on the wall that closed a hatch between them and outer space. Panting, they looked at each other in exhaustion. Fortunately, they were all still alive. The only loss had been Kuririn's hat, which he'd lost while propelling himself back up the chute.

"I'm getting really tired of this," Bulma snarled.

Kuririn groaned in agreement. "I'm just plain getting tired... not to mention hungry."

Bulma's stomach growled in assent. They hadn't eaten much today, thanks to their inactivity on the ship.

"Is it just me," Gohan asked, sniffing the air, "or do you guys smell food too?"

Bulma and Kuririn sniffed too. "You're right!" Kuririn said. "Where is it coming from?"

"Come on," Bulma exclaimed. "Let's find out." They followed their noses down the various hallways until they came to a large room. There was a table out in the center, and it was covered with delicious-smelling food. The table even came complete with three chairs. Bulma's stomach growled more loudly now, and her mouth watered in anticipation.

"All right!" she and Gohan exclaimed. They ran to the table and sat in two of the chairs.

"Hold it, guys," Kuririn said. "I smell a rat."

"All I smell is this great food," Gohan whined, staring at the dishes in front of him.

"How do you know that the food isn't poisoned?" Kuririn asked them. "I'm sure that whoever prepared this table also set all those other traps for us. How do we know that this isn't just another trap? Why should we believe that they've changed their minds about us?"

"Well, let's just sit down for a while at least," Bulma said, eying the food longingly. "You're tired, aren't you?"

"All right," he sighed. He sat down in the other chair and glanced around nervously. He just couldn't shake his apprehension that all this great-smelling food came with some deadly or poisonous strings attached.

"You never know," Bulma said, poking hopefully at her plate of food. "Maybe they're about to reward us for making it through that fun house of theirs."

"Yeah, right," Kuririn said, pushing his plate of food away so that he wouldn't be so tempted to stuff his face. "That's way too farfetched to me. Are you sure that isn't just your stomach talking, Bulma?"

"Well, it's sure been talking a lot," she complained, looking down and frowning as she rubbed her growling stomach. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Suddenly a knife shot through the air toward Bulma's head. Compared to the projectiles she was used to dodging, it was traveling at a crawl, so she easily dodged by leaning her head to one side. It struck her chair and stuck fast.

"What the?" she exclaimed, looking at the place where the knife had struck. It must have activated some kind of button, because a light beside it had begun to blink on and off.

"Get out of here! Quick!" she barked, jumping up from her chair. "It's another trap!" Gohan and Kuririn leapt to their feet, and they all began glancing around in anticipation of some new danger. Suddenly a shadow appeared over them. Gohan and Kuririn bolted before Bulma realized what was happening, and with a loud "clang" sound, she was instantly covered by darkness. She could hear the muffled voices of Gohan and Kuririn, as well as the reverberations of their pounding fists on the outside of her metal prison. She tried to feel her way to a wall, but she was grabbed tightly around the middle by an unknown attacker.

"Whoever you are, you'd better let me go right now!" she said angrily, struggling to get her arms free. Suddenly a hole opened above her and she could see in the light that she was being held by what appeared to be a large, metal claw.

"Huh? What happened? Where did this thing come froooooom!" she shrieked as the claw yanked her up to a platform high above the floor. She struggled violently to free herself, and the claw made some grinding, popping noises as her struggles began to crack and tear the metal.

"Freeze, or we'll shoot you!" someone said next to her. She suddenly realized that she was surrounded on all sides by children with guns pointed straight at her head.

"Bulma!" Gohan and Kuririn yelled up to her. "Are you all right?"

"Forget about me for the moment!" she called back. "You two need to watch out too! You're surrounded!"

Kuririn and Gohan gasped as they realized she was right. It was as if these children had appeared out of nowhere. They were all armed, and they all had their guns pointed at her, Kuririn, and Gohan.

"What the hell is wrong with you kids?" Bulma snapped at the armed children who had crowded around her. "First you attack our ship, then you make us go through all kinds of deadly traps, and now this! What kind of sadistic misfits are you anyway? We didn't do anything to you!"

"Liar!" the boy closest to her exclaimed. "It was your kind that robbed us of our parents and our planet! We have every reason to destroy you!" He pushed his gun closer to her face.

"Rapid teleport!" Bulma yelled. Now that time had stopped, she was able to free herself from the metal claw that held her without worrying about the gun-toting brats. It was a simple matter to free herself, and she had figured as much. It was only logical that machines that were powered by electricity or hydraulics would be easily manipulated during halted time. She floated out in front of the platform and turned around to look at the children some more. She couldn't switch back to real time just yet. She had to think. Perhaps she had been wrong in assuming that their aggressors were totally deserving of a severe thrashing. They obviously had mistaken Bulma and her friends for someone else - someone terrible. Maybe they should try to talk things out before doing anything rash. Still, it wouldn't hurt to take precautions. She took the guns from the hands of each of the kids on the platform and tucked the stack of weapons under her arm. She snapped back into real time and allowed the kids in front of her to react. They jumped back in fear and confusion when they saw her hovering there with their weapons.

"Now just calm down," she said, trying not to sound threatening. "If you're afraid I'm going to hurt you, you can rest assured that I won't. I'm not that kind of person. I just want to get to the bottom of this mess. Just who do you think we are, and why did it make you attack us?"

"Don't play dumb with us!" the same one said to her. "We know you're three of Freeza's cronies!"

"Freeza?" Bulma said, genuinely confused. "Who's Freeza?" Suddenly she sensed a rise in chi down below. Kuririn and Gohan were beginning to lose their patience with the mob of armed youngsters that was closing in on them. They were about ready to resort to violence.

"Uh-oh!" she exclaimed. This wasn't good. They certainly didn't want to pick a fight with these kids. If they were the kind of people who had to rely on guns for their protection, there wouldn't be much they could do to defend themselves from Bulma and the boys. A lot of lives could be lost in such a one-sided skirmish.

"Here! Take these!" she said hurriedly, shoving the pile of guns at the one who had snapped at her earlier. "I've got to stop my friends from making a big mistake!" The boy fell back from the weight of the guns as Bulma shot down towards Kuririn and Gohan. They were just about to fire energy blasts at the crowd of angry, threatening children when Bulma touched down in front of them. Gohan stopped himself in time, but Kuririn let a small energy ball escape from him. Bulma canceled it out without too much difficulty, but it made her hand sting something fierce.

"Hold it!" she cried angrily. "Will everyone please just calm down?"

"What's the matter, Bulma?" Kuririn asked her in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Kuririn, we can't fight these kids!" she exclaimed, holding her arms up to stop both sides from attacking. "They think we're someone else – someone really terrible. This is all a big misunderstanding, and if you guys start tossing chi all over the place, you'll start killing innocents!"

"'Innocent?!'" Kuririn said incredulously. "What do you mean 'innocent?' They were about to shoot us!"

"Why shouldn't we?" the oldest-looking one asked angrily. "You did the same thing to all our parents!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kuririn asked, shocked right out of his anger.

"Kuririn," Bulma said, "these kids think that we helped some guy named Freeza destroy their civilization and their parents. That's why they attacked us."

Before anyone could say anything else the whole ship quaked violently, and Bulma was nearly knocked off her feet. An adolescent girl ran out to report.

"Zeshin!" she cried to the older-looking boy. "We've entered an asteroid field! The ship will be torn to bits if we don't do something, and that last impact has already caused some small fires in the eighth and ninth sectors of the ship! They're too close to the fuel lines to be insignificant for long!"

"Bun, you're in charge!" Zeshin barked at the one who had snapped at Bulma up on the platform. "Assign some people to watch these three and send the rest to go handle those fires with me. You go to the bridge and fly our ship through these asteroids. Now let's move!"

Bun quickly did as he was told. Soon the whole ship was a bustle of nervous activity. Only ten children had been assigned to watch Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan, and the poor kids were so nervous and scared that they weren't even paying attention to their captives.

"What should we do?" Kuririn asked Bulma. "Should we leave while we can? When they get past this asteroid field they'll probably try to execute us again."

"Yeah, but from the looks of things around here, they're not going to have an easy time with their current situation. They're just kids, Kuririn! We ought to at least try to give them a hand."

Suddenly, one of the steel panels on the ceiling above a large group of the kids began creaking and groaning. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan nodded at each other and flew over toward the panicking children, just in time to keep the thick chunk of metal from crushing them. The children looked up in shock and fear as their rescuers dropped the panel harmlessly off to one side.

"Are you all right?" Bulma asked them. Gulping, they nodded at her. She shot them a relieved smile and then turned back toward Gohan and Kuririn.

"Here's my game plan," she said quickly. "Gohan, Kuririn, I want you two to try to keep these kids out of harm's way and help them put out those fires. While you do that, I'm going to go to the control room and do what I can to help them pilot us out of the asteroid field. With a bit of luck, we'll show them that there are decent people in this universe yet!"

"Let's do it!" Kuririn said.

"Yeah!" Gohan agreed.

"All right!" Bulma said, turning to run down the passage where she'd seen Bun go earlier. "You two be careful!"

She ran through the hallway where she'd seen Bun go, having to make her way past dozens of panicking children. Luckily, she didn't have far to run. She soon found herself at the bridge, standing beside Bun, who was frantically trying to keep the ship from hitting the larger asteroids. He was doing an okay job with that, but they were taking a lot of minor hits from the smaller ones, and those would add up before long. Bulma quickly studied his actions so that she could pick up the gist of this ship and how it handled. She smiled happily as she discovered that it was similar to their own ship, and she could even do it all manually by keyboard, too.

"Move!" she ordered, shoving him out of the seat and sitting down. Ignoring his cry of protest, she immediately began typing out commands to the ship's main computer.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Bun hollered at her angrily.

"Keeping us all from getting killed, that's what!" she snapped. "Don't yell at me! I need to concentrate!"

She deftly maneuvered the ship past the enormous rocks, while she used the ship's laser guns to atomize the smaller chunks that were in their path. She had to stop time every now and then just to work out a plausible strategy, and in this way, she managed to avoid all of the damaging rocks. To say that Bun was amazed by her piloting skills was a rather bold understatement. He immediately stopped complaining once they stopped getting hit. After about twenty minutes of strenuous, nerve-wracking dodging, they were finally past the field of asteroids, and Bulma was able to rest her fingers.

"Whew!" she sighed. "That was intense!" She turned to smirk triumphantly at Bun and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Hey!" she cried angrily. "What gives? Can't you get it through your thick skulls that we're not here to hurt you? I just saved your lives, for Kami's sake!"

"Ha!" Bun snorted derisively at her. "You only did that to save yourself! You three don't give a damn about people like us! You've got to be in league with Freeza. Only people associated with him could do what I've seen you three do today."

"Put your weapon down, Bun," Zeshin said. He had just arrived with Gohan and Kuririn. "These three aren't with Freeza; I'm sure of it now." He told them about how Gohan and Kuririn had rescued a bunch of kids from various calamities, and had helped them put out the fires.

"These guys can't be with Freeza," he claimed, "because Freeza's men would never have gone out of their way to save everyone like that. They might have put out the fires and piloted us through the asteroid field so they could save themselves, but they wouldn't have done the rest."

Bun looked closely into Bulma's eyes. After a few moments, he seemed satisfied. Bulma had not noticed it before, but it suddenly occurred to her that Bun looked a lot like a younger version of Yamucha.

"I believe you," he said to Zeshin. "I don't see the evil in her eyes that I saw in the eyes of Freeza's soldiers." He turned to walk out, and he stopped to tousle Gohan's hair as he left.

"I'm sorry we attacked you," Zeshin apologized. "We're all pretty jumpy around here. Freeza's still looking for us."

"Who is this Freeza, anyway?" Kuririn asked. "What exactly did he do to you and your home world?"

Zeshin shuddered. "Freeza and his minions are the worst kind of evil. They came to our planet and killed all our parents. Only us kids were able to escape, but even so, of all the ships full of children that flew away, only our mirrored one has so far escaped destruction from Freeza. All the rest of our brothers and sisters have been killed by that maniac and his soldiers."

"Why did Freeza kill all your people?" Bulma asked.

"They wanted to sell our planet to a barbaric race of people who had destroyed their own planet with wars and pollution," he said disgustedly. "Our people were the 'vermin' that were set to be exterminated before the sale."

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan looked at each other in amazement. This was all too familiar.

"These people sound a lot like Saiyans," Bulma said. "The Saiyans tried to do the same thing with our planet. By any chance, did Freeza and his men have long, furry tails?"

"No," Zeshin said. "Some of them had tails, but they weren't like that. They seemed to be from lots of different races of people, but they could all do what you three can do - you know, shoot energy from your hands, fly, things like that. Anyway, to tell you the truth, I've never seen Freeza before; none of us have. All we've seen are his soldiers."

"Oh," Kuririn said. "So where are you all going? You can't very well go back to your own planet now."

"Yeah," Zeshin said. "I know. We're going to the planet of one of our home world's trading partners. They said that they'd be glad to take us in."

"That's great," Bulma sighed happily. "At least you all have a place to go."

"Where are you three going?" he asked them.

"We're going to the planet Namek," Gohan answered, "and it's very important that we get there in a hurry."

"It's strange that you should say that," Zeshin said. "We passed Namek only a few days ago. We know a shortcut, if you're interested."

"We sure are!" Bulma said, grinning at Kuririn and Gohan, who grinned back. Zeshin gave her the coordinates, and they all went to the hangar, where all the rest of the children were waiting to bid them farewell.

"Goodbye Zeshin... Bun." Bulma said, shaking their hands firmly. Kuririn and Gohan did the same. "I sincerely hope that you all make it to where you are going."

"And the same back to you," Bun said. "I'm sorry I ever made such a bad call. You three are the best aliens I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few."

Bulma and the boys laughed at this innocent but funny statement. Everyone waved goodbye as Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan got into their ship and sped away.

"Where were they going, anyway?" Bun asked Zeshin, as they went back inside and headed for the bridge.

"Namek," Zeshin replied. "I hope they make it there without any trouble."

Bun suddenly grew strangely pale. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Run that by me again!"

"Namek," Zeshin said again, shooting his friend a puzzled glance. "What's the matter?"

"Oh no!" Bun said, clenching his fists. "No! They can't go there!"

"What in the world has gotten into you?" Zeshin asked him. "Why shouldn't they go to Namek?"

"Because," Bun said, shaking angrily. "I overheard one of Freeza's soldiers say before we left that Namek was Freeza's next primary target! We've just sent those people to their deaths!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The Green Planet**

"All right guys, there it is!" Bulma exclaimed. "Namek!"

Gohan and Kuririn ran up from their bunk to look out the window at the green sphere before them. That had really been a worthwhile shortcut! It had only taken them three days to get here after leaving their friends in the mirrored ship.

"It's beautiful," Gohan breathed excitedly.

"What say we go in for a closer look?" Bulma asked with a glint of excitement flashing in her eyes.

"Yeah!" Gohan exclaimed. Kuririn smiled at Bulma. They were finally there!

"Buckle up!" Bulma ordered. "We're going down!" She waited for them to strap in, and then she gave the computer the landing commands. The ship zoomed down toward the surface.

"I hate this part," Kuririn muttered as the ship quivered in its entry.

Suddenly the ship began rolling to one side. The ship's computer started going crazy with warning signals, and the whole left half of the ship stopped responding to its commands. Bulma realized that she must have made a grave error in her landing program. Well, there was no time to fix it now. She was going to have to land the ship manually.

"What's going on, Bulma?" Gohan asked. "Why are we rolling?"

"The ship isn't responding to my flight program," she said, grabbing the directional levers to level out their flight path. "I'm going to land us manually. Hang on. We're in for a bumpy ride!" She worked fiercely at the controls to stabilize their flight, which wasn't easy considering how many axes of rotation she had to correct with the dozen or so thrusters on the outside of the ship. Even for a genius, that was a lot of on-the-fly calculations (no pun intended). She finally got the ship upright, and then she went to work on slowing their descent, which was way too fast for a safe landing. After a couple minutes of hard reverse thrust, the reverse thrusters quit on her. This was bad. She could still steer, but she had no way of braking their fall. The ground was rapidly approaching, and there was nothing but trees below her. She had no choice. She had to make an emergency landing in the trees and hope that the foliage would help to slow them down.

"Hang on guys," she said, easing the ship down toward the treetops. "This is gonna be rough." She dipped the nose of he ship downward and let the ship drop into the large canopy of leaves. Immediately, they felt a huge jerk from the shock, and the ship was pulled farther down into the forest. A loud, grinding noise told Bulma that the legs were scraping the ground. There was nothing she could do. She'd lost all control by now. She watched helplessly as they crunched through trees as if they were twigs, cutting a long path through the forest. They did seem to be slowing, at least.

All at once they could see a huge tree looming directly in their path ahead of them. They were going to hit it! That tree was big enough to stop them, and if it did, it would certainly stop them roughly.

"Brace yourselves, guys," Bulma shouted over the roar of the snapping branches and trunks. "This is probably going to hurt!"

With a sickening crack, the ship slammed into the massive tree, jerking Bulma forward so hard that that her restraint harness nearly snapped. A sudden jerk backward was all that remained of their landing, and then, all was silence. The ship had stopped.

"Are you guys okay?" Bulma asked, unbuckling herself from her chair and turning around to check on Kuririn and Gohan. They were paler than usual, but like her, they appeared to be without injury.

"I'm all right," Gohan said, unbuckling his restraint harness and rubbing his shoulders where the straps had dug into them. "I think I might have seen my life flash before my eyes there, though."

"Same here," Kuririn said, unbuckling his harness and pulling his shirt collar over to one side as he looked at the red marks the harness straps had left. "That sure was a bumpy ride."

"Well, at least we landed safely," Bulma sighed. "Come on. Let's go look out the window and see where we are."

They ran up to the window and looked past the big tree toward the horizon. There was nothing but trees for as far as the eye could see.

"Wow," breathed Gohan. "Now I know why the planet was so green. Look at all the trees!"

Bulma gasped. "Whoa! I'm glad this big tree was here," she said, pointing down, "because look where we are!"

Kuririn and Gohan looked at where she was pointing and gasped too. They were right on the edge of an enormous cliff!

"It's a good thing we stopped when we did," Gohan muttered. Kuririn and Bulma nodded in agreement.

Kuririn scanned around a bit with his chi sense, and he began to look rather puzzled. "Hey, Bulma," he said suddenly. "Are you sure this is Namek?"

"Well," she answered, "I'm sure I followed Zeshin's directions exactly. This must be Namek."

"But I don't sense any Nameks yet," Kuririn said. "And I'm sure that if there were any, at least one would be out there somewhere close enough for me to sense him."

"I know!" Gohan exclaimed. "Why don't you check your dragon radar for dragonballs, Bulma?"

"Good thinking, Gohan!" Bulma exclaimed. She reached under her chair to dig through her bag for her capsule case. Suddenly the ship lurched forward, sending Bulma crashing into the control panel. As she recovered from the shock, she stared – pale faced – at Kuririn and Gohan.

"Both of you get in your seats and buckle up!" she ordered, trying not to move too much. Before anyone could do anything else, however, the tree that was holding the ship up lurched forward again, only this time, it went over the edge of the cliff and the ship followed it down. The last thing Bulma remembered was screaming along with Kuririn and Gohan as they fell the thousand or so feet to the base of the cliff.

- - - - -

Bulma opened her eyes with a start. Something had jerked her awake. She looked up to see two wrinkled creatures that somewhat resembled Piccolo.

"Ah, you're awake!" the shorter one said, smiling excitedly at the taller one.

Bulma felt her head for bumps. She couldn't feel any. She looked around in amazement as she realized that she didn't recognize her surroundings at all. Could she have...?

"Am I dead?" she wondered aloud. The two creatures laughed.

"No, you're not dead," the larger one said, "but you and your companions had quite a nasty spill. When we found your ship, you were all still inside, but you'd been knocked unconscious. We took you here and gave you emergency medical treatment. It's a good thing we found you when we did, because otherwise you might not have survived."

"Thank you," Bulma said gratefully. "Are my friends okay too?" The larger creature nodded, smiling. Bulma hopped out of her bed and walked over beside Kuririn's and Gohan's beds. She knocked on their foreheads to wake them up.

"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"I'm glad you noticed," she chuckled. "You don't look so dead yourself."

"Whoa!" Gohan gasped. "Are they Nameks?" He pointed at their strange rescuers.

"Yes," the short one said. "My name is Raichi, and this is Zarkuro. We found you three at the bottom of a cliff and brought you here for treatment."

"Thanks!" Kuririn and Gohan said, bowing their heads in appreciation.

"Come with us," Zarkuro said. "We have a meal waiting, if you'd like to share it with us."

"I think we'd like that very much," Bulma said, glancing at her companions, who were nodding vigorously. They followed Raichi and Zarkuro to a room where a table was prepared for them. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan sat down while Raichi and Zarkuro brought the food to the table. The two Nameks lifted their glasses as if to make a toast.

"To your success in locating the dragonballs," Raichi said before taking a long drink. Zarkuro nodded and did the same.

"How did you know about that?" Bulma gasped.

Raichi giggled, and Zarkuro levitated his glass in the air for Bulma and her friends to see. Bulma didn't know whether to clap or levitate her own glass. She was unfamiliar with the customs of these two. Was it possible that Zarkuro was just showing off?

"Wow!" Gohan said. "You guys know how to control your chi too?"

"Yes," Raichi said, levitating a cigar to his mouth. "There are many things you don't know about us, but we know a good deal about you."

"How?" Bulma asked him. She didn't exactly like the idea of some strange alien reading her intentions so clearly. She preferred her thoughts to remain her own business.

"Let's just say we have our ways," Zarkuro said. He and Raichi looked at each other and grinned.

"Hey," Kuririn said. "I remember that Kami could read our minds. Maybe all Nameks are like that."

Bulma wasn't so sure. Piccolo certainly hadn't known she could fight when he saw her on Roshi's island. These old Nameks were a little strange, and although she knew she should be grateful to them for what they had done to help her and her friends, she had begun to feel somewhat suspicious of them.

"Oh!" she cried, suddenly remembering something important. "I nearly forgot! I need to warn you two about a dangerous man who might be coming to your planet. His name is Veg-"

"Vegita?" Raichi interjected.

"Er... yeah," she replied, completely taken by surprise. "You know about him too?"

"You needn't worry about Vegita," Raichi told her, waving it away and smiling. "Although Zarkuro and I are not warrior Nameks, there are others on this planet who are. They will be more than capable of dealing with one irate Saiyan if he makes the mistake of showing himself here. I think he will find a rather unpleasant welcome waiting for him if he does come."

"Are you sure?" Kuririn asked him. "Vegita's not exactly a guy you just 'needn't worry about,' Raichi. This guy destroys entire planets. He's the prince of the Saiyan race, for goodness' sake!"

"I realize that, but I still say that he's no threat to us," Raichi chuckled. "You aren't very familiar with warrior Namek types, are you?"

"Well, we had one back on Earth, I think," Gohan told him. "My teacher, Piccolo was a warrior. He was really, really strong, but he wasn't strong enough to beat Vegita."

"Ah, Piccolo. I remember him well," Zarkuro sighed, shaking his head. "It was a sad day when we banished him from Namek. I understand that he went to your planet and sided with some very unsavory characters before creating the egg that hatched into the Piccolo you know now. It is true that the Piccolo of which you speak is a warrior type, but the unfortunate reality of his situation was that, since he did not grow up on Namek and learn our methods and eat our food, he did not get the proper physical and mental training he needed to realize his full potential. He was but a shadow of what a real Namek warrior is."

"This is really, really strange," Bulma exclaimed. "How can you two know so much about us when we've never even met? I don't understand at all."

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Raichi exclaimed. "We fixed your spacecraft for you! Would you like to see it?"

"What? You did?" she gasped. "But there must have been all kinds of damage to it! How long were we unconscious, anyway?"

"Only a few hours," Zarkuro chuckled, "but you'd be amazed at how handy Raichi is with vehicles. Come. We'll take you to where we've stored it." They got up from the table and motioned for Bulma and the others to follow them outside. After glancing at each other in surprise, they got up and followed the strange Nameks out to a nearby storage shed.

"There," Raichi said, once they were inside the shed. He pointed to the ship, parked in the end of the building. "I was able to repair the structural damage you sustained in your fall, but as you can see, there are still a few superficial dents and cracks left to be buffed out."

"Oh, thank Kami!" Bulma exclaimed, running around to the back to inspect every angle. "It looks as if all that's wrong with it is a few bumps and scratches! I think we'll have no problem getting it off the ground!" She inspected the reverse thrusters, and to her surprise, found that they were in perfect working order.

"You really did fix it!" she exclaimed, walking back toward the group. "Thank you very much. We owe you both a lot for this. Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

"Don't worry about that," Raichi said, shaking his head and smiling mischievously. "You've already given us everything we need."

"Huh?" Kuririn asked. "What did we give you?"

"What my partner means," Zarkuro said, glaring at Raichi, "is that a good deed is its own reward. We could ask nothing more of you three than the gratitude you've shown us. Now," he said, turning toward Bulma. "What do you say you begin looking for those dragonballs? We have about eight hours of daylight left. Although I'd love to go with you, I'm afraid that I'll have to stay here in case one of our fellow Nameks needs me. Raichi and I are doctors, you know. Raichi can go with you, though - that is, if you want a guide."

"Yeah!" Gohan exclaimed. "We'd love to have someone to guide us, right guys? I mean, Bulma's smart and everything, but having someone from this planet along would make things much easier!"

"Hmph," Bulma grunted, feeling a little hurt despite the well-meaning intention of Gohan's comment. "I'm sure we could do this ourselves, but maybe you have a point, Gohan."

"Besides," Kuririn broke in. "We'll find the dragonballs a lot faster with four people, right Bulma?" He shot her a reassuring grin, as if to say that he knew they'd be fine without Raichi, but maybe it'd be the polite thing to invite him along.

"Yeah, you're right, Kuririn," she sighed. She took out her dragon radar. She wasn't really angry about it, but she still didn't want Raichi along. She didn't trust him or Zarkuro. The way they had dodged her questions regarding how they knew so much about her and her friends really bugged her. She was glad that they had rescued her and repaired her ship, but something told her that she should keep a close eye on them, at least until after they had gathered the dragonballs and wished their friends back to life. Oh well. There was no time for such musings now. Her dragon radar had already picked up on all seven dragonballs, three of which were very close by!

"Look!" Bulma said, waving at Gohan and Kuririn. "There are three of them not too far off!"

"All right!" Gohan whooped. "Let's go get 'em, Bulma!"

"Yeah," she said, smiling. She took out her pack of capsules and threw out the one for her medium-sized air car. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan began to pile in, but Raichi stopped them.

"Hold it," he said. "I wouldn't advise using such a small vehicle for a trip into our wilderness. There are many dangerous beasts running free around here. Let me take you in my vehicle. It's slow, but it's safe."

"We'd better listen to him, guys," Kuririn said, climbing out of the air car. "He knows this place better than we do." Bulma could see from the nervous expression on his face that Kuririn was envisioning dangerous, man-eating monsters or something along those lines. Sometimes he could be a real coward. Even so, he still had her beaten in terms of actual skill, and besides, she couldn't say no to saving on gas, so she relented and got out of her car. Gohan got out too, and she recapsulized it and put it back in her capsule case.

They all piled into Raichi's noisy, slow vehicle - which resembled a large, van-like hovercraft - and took off for their first dragonball. Bulma was so excited that she forgot all about her previous apprehensions. This was just like the old days of dragonball-hunting. Those were some of her fondest memories. She could almost taste the danger and adventure. She loved hunting down those glistening jewels that could help one achieve his most treasured of dreams. But it wasn't even the wish that she loved most. It was the hunting.

The first dragonball turned out to be at the bottom of a nearby river. Bulma graciously let the boys have the honor of stripping down and diving in the cold water for the orange orb. She may have been excited, but she wasn't stupid. She watched closely as each one went down and popped back up again a minute or two later for air.

"Any luck?" she asked Gohan, the first one up.

"No," he said, shivering. "Are you sure the dragonball is in here, Bulma?"

"I'm positive," she said confidently. "Keep looking. It's down there somewhere." Gohan nodded. He dove down again. She had to give the little squirt credit. He sure had determination. He was growing up to be just like his father in a lot of ways. Goku... She wondered how he was healing. She thought maybe she should call back home and see how things were there. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud splash below. Raichi popped up out of the water, holding their first dragonball high above his head. Bulma jumped up and clapped her hands together happily. One down, and only six more to go!

- - - - -

Bulma sighed happily as she looked at the three dragonballs on the desk next to her bed. Their day had been fraught with danger, but undoubtedly successful. She rolled over onto her side and tried for what seemed like the millionth time to fall asleep. It was no use. She just couldn't get to sleep tonight. It must have been the excitement of the dragonball hunt. Perhaps a glass of water would help. She quietly got up and dressed, hovering above the ground so as not to make any noise and wake anyone up. It had been a tiring day, and everyone deserved a good night's rest. She left her room, glancing out the window as she left. The last glimmer of light was disappearing over the horizon outside.

Slowly she tiptoed down the hall toward the kitchen. She came across an unfamiliar door along the way, and she paused to stare at it. "Odd," she thought. "I've never noticed this door before." Raichi and Zarkuro were laughing inside about something. She wasn't usually inclined to eavesdrop on people, but this door had awakened her curiosity, not to mention the fact that she found it unusual for Raichi and Zarkuro to be up at this hour when they had been so adamant about getting to bed before sundown. She opened the door just a crack and peered inside. She was amazed by what she saw. It was an immense room, filled with computers and what appeared to be video surveillance equipment of all shapes and sizes. How in the world could she have missed this room?

"I'm a genius," she heard Zarkuro say. She couldn't see either of them. They were on the other side of the room. Suddenly two of the strangest-looking creatures Bulma had ever seen walked into her line of sight. Bulma was so startled that she nearly cried out aloud. They looked so hideous that she didn't know whether to run or stay where she was, but what happened next rooted her in place.

"So it's decided then," the shorter one said, with Raichi's voice. "Tomorrow I'll take them to the ice cavern and leave them there. Just don't kill them until I get back, okay? I want to watch!"

The shock of what she was hearing made Bulma's jaw drop. These two frauds planned to kill her and her friends!

"Okay," the other one said with Zarkuro's voice. "But this time we'll definitely get them. They may have escaped the acid, the tornado, the plant-birds, and even the giant, but there's no way they'll make it out of the ice cavern alive!"

They laughed boisterously at that. Bulma seethed. She wanted very badly to just smash in there and blast those idiots to kingdom come, but she thought it would be wiser to tell Kuririn and Gohan first.

"Oh yeah!" Zarkuro said suddenly. "I forgot! We've got to go to that Bulma girl's room and get her dragon radar first. We'll need it when we finally get off this miserable planet. We'll take a trip to the real planet Namek and make our own wishes. How does that sound to you?"

"Splendid!" Raichi exclaimed. "Let's go!" Bulma got ready to dash toward her room for the dragon radar.

"Wait," Zarkuro said, stopping Raichi and causing Bulma to hesitate. "Let's wait awhile longer, until we know she's asleep. Our hallucination ray is inoperative now, and if she wakes up, we'll be discovered."

"All right," Raichi said impatiently. "I wish we didn't have to use light to power that thing. That stupid hallucination ray only works in the daytime."

"Well, from what I can make of their spaceship," Zarkuro said happily, "they've worked out an ingenious way of using salt water as a fuel source. At least that ship will work any time we want it to."

"Provided you still remember the Namek phrases you need to pilot it," Raichi replied anxiously.

"Don't worry," Zarkuro said proudly. "I still remember everything I drained from that foolish girl's brain. I'll be able to pilot that ship as well as she did."

"I hope not!" Raichi chuckled. "Or we might crash and someone will be sneaking peeks at _our_ thoughts while _we're_ unconscious!" They laughed hysterically at that. Bulma was furious. She had heard enough. As quietly as she could, considering how angry she was, she stormed back towards Kuririn's room.

"Kuririn!" she barked. "Get up! We've got some butt to kick!"

"Bulma!" Kuririn protested, reluctantly allowing Bulma to roll him out of the bed. "I was having a really great dream! What's your problem? Why'd you wake me up?"

It took Bulma a few minutes to get Kuririn up to speed, and when she'd finally convinced him that she wasn't bonkers, he said that Gohan should know about all this. Bulma agreed, and she left Kuririn to go tell Gohan while she went back to her room to pack her things. They were definitely going to leave after this was over. There was no way Bulma was going to give those two jerks a chance to get their slimy mitts on the controls of her ship!

In no time at all she had everything ready to go. She was just packing her dragon radar when she looked at the dragonballs on her desk. Suddenly she realized that they weren't really dragonballs. They were nothing but rocks! She took out her dragon radar and turned it on. As she had expected, there was no signal. Raichi and Zarkuro's hallucination ray must have caused her to see the signal before, but it couldn't fool her now. She stuffed the dragon radar in her last bag and capsulized them all. She had just put her box of capsules in her pocket when she heard a commotion down the hall. She flung open her door just in time to see Kuririn and Gohan knock Raichi and Zarkuro senseless to the floor.

"Hey!" she said in pretend anger. "I can't believe you didn't wait for me! Hmph! Some friends you are!" They laughed. Kuririn explained to her that they had seen Raichi and Zarkuro heading to her room and they hadn't been sure that it would be a good idea to let them barge in on her.

"What?" Bulma cried indignantly. "I could easily have handled these two! Why, their chi was so low that I barely even felt it! You two don't give me any credit."

"Actually," Gohan said, grinning, "we were more afraid that you'd get a little carried away and kill them."

Bulma gave a start as he and Kuririn chuckled at her expense. "Well, it's possible that I could hit 'em a little too hard," she admitted, "but I'm sure I wouldn't have killed them. I've got more sense than that, you know." Nevertheless, she wasn't quite sure if her reply was completely accurate.

"Come on," Kuririn said. "It's not doing us any good discussing this here. I say we go get the ship and get off this stupid planet."

"You won't be going anywhere," Zarkuro said feebly, struggling to rise.

Bulma whirled around. "And just what are you going to do to stop us?" she said angrily. "Bleed on us?"

Zarkuro laughed weakly, finally stumbling onto his feet. "I won't have to do anything," he said. Raichi began to stir.

"What are you talking about?" Kuririn asked. "Why else wouldn't we be able to leave?"

"The stellar winds will keep you here," Zarkuro replied, grinning fiendishly at them. "If you try to fly your ship through the stellar winds surrounding this planet, you'll only lose control of it like you did when you crashed earlier."

"That's right," Raichi said, as he pushed himself upright. "You three are doomed to spend the rest of your lives on this miserable planet, just like us."

"Oh, really?" Bulma said, folding her arms. "Is that so? Well, then tell me this: if that's true, then just what exactly were you two planning on doing with our ship? Come clean, now; I heard everything. You're planning to take our ship to Namek. So how were you going to escape the stellar winds?"

Raichi and Zarkuro were quite taken aback by this. They hadn't suspected that they'd been heard. Zarkuro clenched his fists, if you could call them fists.

"Nothing you could do would make me tell you that," he retorted. Raichi nodded his head in agreement.

"Wanna bet?" Bulma said menacingly. She created a rather small but bright energy ball and held it high above her head.

"Now," she said sternly. "Speak! Or you won't have to worry about what the rest of your life on this miserable planet will be like!"

They could see that Bulma was serious. They stepped back a couple of paces as they stared fearfully at the pulsing orb of energy she held above her head.

"Tell her, Zarkuro!" Raichi demanded, quaking nervously. "Do you want to die?!"

"All right!" Zarkuro yelled, shaking just as violently. "All right! The stellar winds are made of charged particles sent out from this planet's closest star. Those particles create violent magnetic fields around the entire planet. It would be useless to pilot any kind of ship through them under normal circumstances. However, every few days, groups of small holes appear in the stream of particles. They're hard to see, but your ship's tracking system could easily detect them if you programmed it to search for the neutral spots in the magnetic fields. There's always a few of them that just appear at random, but the most favorable time for big groups of them will probably occur sometime tomorrow."

"That's why you planned to do us in tomorrow, isn't it?" Bulma asked. Raichi nodded. Bulma let the globe of energy dissipate.

"Come on, guys," she said, turning to leave. "We're outta here. I don't want to spend another minute with these sheisters."

"No!" Zarkuro shouted. Bulma turned back around. "You can't leave us here," he pleaded.

"You know," she began, shaking her head. "It's sad; it really is. We would have willingly taken you with us in the beginning if you had only asked, but instead you tried to kill us and steal our ship. Because of that, we can't trust you, and you'll have to stay behind." She motioned for Kuririn and Gohan to follow her, and she walked out the door.

Kuririn, Gohan, and Bulma walked outside and headed for the shed - which turned out to be nothing more than a makeshift shack that looked like it might topple over at the slightest hint of a breeze. They rushed in to find that the ship was in perfect condition.

"Well, here's one thing that we didn't hallucinate," Bulma grumbled, checking the thrusters again. "They repaired the ship all right. I guess they wanted to make sure they'd get away with it."

"Bulma," Kuririn said nervously. "We'd better leave as soon as possible. Raichi and Zarkuro could come out here at any minute."

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Bulma said, hopping down from the thruster panel. "I'm also sure that they'd rather sabotage the ship than allow us to get away with it. But you shouldn't worry, Kuririn. I'm sure that any one of us could defeat those two in a heartbeat."

"Freeze!" Raichi yelled suddenly. Bulma glanced at Raichi and Zarkuro, who were standing in the doorway. They were both armed with what appeared to be ray blasters or guns.

"Care to do the honors again, guys?" Bulma asked Kuririn and Gohan, almost feeling sorry for the two dimwitted aliens.

Kuririn and Gohan glanced at each other and nodded. They charged at Raichi and Zarkuro so quickly that there wasn't even time for one shot to fire. Bulma just shook her head as Gohan and Kuririn knocked Raichi and Zarkuro out with one swift blow to each head. In no time the two aliens were lying prone on the ground.

"Piccolo!" Bulma called out. The platform began to descend from the bottom of the ship. "Come on, guys," she said. "Time to go!" Kuririn and Gohan hopped up onto the platform, and they went up into the ship.

"Buckle up quick," Bulma said, sitting in her chair. "After I reprogram the real Namek's coordinates into the ship's main computer, we're taking off!"

"Shouldn't we wait for tomorrow?" Kuririn asked her, gulping nervously. "I mean, don't forget the stellar winds they talked about. We might not be able to leave right now."

"Yeah, I know," she replied, "but we're too pressed for time not to give it a shot. There's no telling how long it'll take Vegita to heal up and go to Namek. Besides, I'll find us a decent-sized hole if one exists, and we'll be fine. I won't try anything unless I'm sure we'll make it out of here."

She quickly uploaded their destination's coordinates into the main computer and set the tracking system to search for magnetic anomalies. "Here we go!" she said, and she gave the computer the command for blastoff. They took off immediately, ripping apart the shack as they ascended.

Bulma turned the tracking system on. "Hang on, guys," she warned. "I don't know how rough our ride outta here is going to be, but I'll do my best. Let's just pray that the ship finds me a good neutral area to fly through, otherwise we'll just have to land again and try later."

She waited for a few tense moments, before the tracking system locked on to a good, solid hole in the magnetic fields above them. Whooping triumphantly, she told the ship's computer to fly straight for it. Instantly the ship bolted for the heavens. They were flying at tremendous speed.

"We're gonna make it!" Bulma exclaimed to herself. "We're gonna make it!"

Suddenly the computer warned that the hole was beginning to lose its stability. Bulma started to panic. There were five seconds before they broke through the winds, and there was no longer any hope of stopping themselves in time if the hole closed.

She grit her teeth and prayed with all her might for the hole to stay open. Three seconds left... two... one... Bulma kept her eye on the computer and watched the hole shrink to the size of a pixel on the monitor, just as they broke through. They had made it!

Shaking with relief, Bulma pulled the ship onto its flight path, and she turned on the autopilot. "We made it," she said weakly. "We'll reach Namek in four days." Her fatigue finally began to catch up with her as Kuririn and Gohan whooped for joy. She relaxed in her chair and let out a sigh of exhaustion as she felt her drowsiness begin to win the battle against her consciousness. Maybe now things would have a chance to turn out right!


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: The Real Namek**

"Wahoo!" Kuririn shouted.

"Yippee!" Gohan whooped.

"Thank Kami," Bulma sighed.

They had made it, and this time it was the real thing. They were finally standing on Namekian soil! Bulma's eyes glistened through a thin film of relieved tears in the light of the three stars spreading glorious daylight all around her. They'd already been through so much on this trip. She had almost begun to think they'd never make it here, but they had. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed in the sweet-smelling air. There was no pollution and no noise - just peaceful, pristine nature all around. Namek was beautiful.

"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed.

"Huh?" Bulma started, shaken from her reveries. "What?"

"Weren't you listening?" Kuririn asked impatiently. "I said, get out your dragon radar and let's begin looking for the dragonballs!"

"Oh! Right." she laughed, nodding in agreement. She took out her dragon radar and turned it on. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Look at this! Here they are! All seven of them! And there are four all together in one place already... isn't that strange? I wonder why they aren't spread out more than that?"

"But they're here, right?" Kuririn said excitedly. "There are dragonballs here! We'll get to wish Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Yamucha, and Piccolo back!" He and Gohan began to dance a little jig together and Bulma got caught up in the fun, laughing and dancing with them. They couldn't possibly have been happier than they were at that moment. Suddenly Gohan stopped dancing and tensed.

"Hey guys," he said, turning away. Kuririn and Bulma were still laughing and dancing together. "Guys!" he said again, grabbing onto Kuririn's arm and jerking him still. They both stopped celebrating and looked at him.

"What is it, Gohan?" Bulma asked him, noticing how tense and nervous he'd become. "Do you sense something?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I sense some very powerful chi auras out there." He pointed toward the horizon.

Bulma and Kuririn concentrated on where he was pointing. "You're right," Bulma agreed. "Kuririn, do you think they could be Nameks?"

"I don't know," Kuririn said uncertainly. "They feel kind of unfriendly to me."

"Me too," Gohan said nervously. "They're pretty far away, so it's difficult to tell, but I've got this bad feeling that those chis are evil."

"You think so?" Bulma said skeptically. "I don't know. Kaio-sama said that the Nameks were a peaceful race. We must just be a little paranoid because of all that's happened to us on this trip. Come on; let's go introduce ourselves. My dragon radar shows that the four dragonballs I noticed earlier are over in that direction anyway. Maybe they're gathering them together."

"You must be right," Kuririn said, nervously laughing his fears away. "Come on. Let's go meet some Nameks!" Kuririn and Bulma began to walk away.

"You coming, Gohan?" Bulma asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was then that she noticed that he was shaking, and she stiffened. Something was wrong.

"What is it now, Gohan?" she asked him nervously. He couldn't speak. He could only point to the sky. Even before she looked, Bulma could feel an eerily familiar chi in the sky behind her. She looked up in terror to see a familiar sight streaking across the sky. As she concentrated her senses on the chi emanating from the space pod, she began to tremble too.

"It's Ve- Ve- Veg-..." she stuttered.

"Vegita!" Kuririn exclaimed.

"What are we going to do, Kuririn?" Gohan cried, still shaking. "Now that Vegita's here, we're gonna have to fight him for the dragonballs!"

"Not if he doesn't find us, we won't!" Kuririn said, smacking his fist into the palm of his other hand. "We'll just have to beat him to the dragonballs. Right, Bulma?"

Bulma wasn't listening. She had opened her communications case and was setting up her satellite link-up. In her frantic, terrified state of mind, she was doing the only thing she knew to do. She was going to tell Goku!

"What're you doing?" Kuririn asked her incredulously. "This is no time to make phone calls! We've got to hurry up and get those dragonballs!"

"Here," she said, tossing him the dragon radar. "You two go after the dragonballs, then. You're right; we need to start right away to keep ahead of that beast. But I need to stay here and call the turtle hermit so that he can tell Goku that Vegita's here. If we don't get Goku to come in a hurry, we won't stand a chance."

"Oh yeah!" Kuririn said, smacking his forehead. "Goku! That's quick thinking, Bulma! All right then. We'll go, but what will you do when you're done with that?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Bulma said, waving him away. "I'll stay here with the ship, at least for now. I've got to unload a lot of stuff. Besides," she added, looking thoughtfully at the ship. "I've decided to try to make another dragon radar while I wait for you guys to come back. I may even leave if I get it built before you return. It might be best for us to split up and search. We can cover more ground in less time that way."

Kuririn tried to protest, but he could tell by the look she gave him that there was no point in arguing with her. "Are you sure, Bulma?" he asked sternly, making one last effort. "I didn't want to say it before, but it has to be said. You know as well as I do that you're not quite as powerful as Gohan or I am. The three of us together would have a rough time with Vegita, and I just don't want to take the chance of letting you get caught alone with him. He came close to killing you once back home, and he'd try to do it again here."

"I know," Bulma said with a reassuring smile. "But you're going to have to trust my judgment on this one, Kuririn. I'll be careful. Besides," she added, "I'm not the only one on his bad side. He tried to kill both of you, too. Just do what you can, and let me go at my own pace. If I have to teleport or do something drastic, I don't want to have any extra passengers along for the ride. Please, Kuririn. We have precious little time to waste, and we can't spend it arguing about this. I'll be all right."

Kuririn sighed. He hoped she was right, but he had hoped even more that she would listen to reason. He had a bad feeling about this, but he knew that there was no way he was going to win. "All right Bulma," he said, shaking his head. "You win. I just hope you know what you're doing. Come on, Gohan. We'd better hurry if we want to beat Vegita to those dragonballs."

Bulma suddenly felt the sharp twinge of a powerful chi hit her senses. She looked up to the sky to find its source, and immediately she began to tremble.

"Kuririn!" She cried, grabbing his arm and pointing to the sky. "Kuririn! It's another Saiyan space pod!"

Kuririn and Gohan gasped. "No!" Kuririn cried. "But Vegita and Goku were the last Saiyans! How can there be another Saiyan landing here?"

"I don't understand it either," Bulma said, "but that one just did, and he feels even stronger than Vegita!"

"Quick!" Kuririn said. "Mask your chi! I forgot; if Vegita's here, and now another Saiyan too, then we have two enemies out there with scouters. We don't want to give ourselves away to them!"

Bulma and Gohan quickly suppressed their power as low as it would go. They were all extremely worried now, and with good reason. One Vegita was bad enough, but another, even stronger one was way too much for them to handle.

"Hey," Gohan said suddenly. "Do you guys sense that? There are two weak chis coming from that way." He pointed to a bluff in front of them.

Bulma and Kuririn nodded in agreement. Bulma wondered aloud if they could be Nameks.

"I think so," Kuririn said. "I can't tell what kind of chi it is, but they aren't nearly as strong as Vegita is, or even any one of us, for that matter."

"They're almost here," Bulma said nervously. "They'll appear around that bluff at any second."

"Get ready to power up at a moment's notice, just in case these two aren't the Namek welcoming committee." Kuririn told them. Nervously, they watched the bluff and waited. Sure enough, two figures flew around it and approached them and their ship. The two strangers talked quietly to each other, pointing toward Bulma and her friends.

"Funny," Bulma said, taken aback. "I didn't imagine that Nameks would be dressed in Saiyan armor. And somehow, I thought they'd be a little greener." It was true. These definitely were not Nameks. They were clad in the same armor that the Saiyans wore, but they looked a lot less human than Saiyans did. Suddenly one of them extended his right arm, pointing it toward the ship. Bulma sensed a blast of chi coming.

"Run!" she cried, and she and the boys darted away from the ship as one of their visitors fired a small but damaging blast straight through it. Bulma gasped in horror and flew over to her poor ship to inspect the damage. It looked impossible to repair. When she realized how weak the blast had been, she was furious with herself for not trying to block it. She glared at the two soldiers in silent rage before leaping into the air and hovering in front of them.

"Who are you, and why have you done this?" she demanded angrily. Kuririn and Gohan flew up alongside her for support. "You'd better have a damned good reason, because I'm about ready to blast a hole through the both of you!"

"Well, I guess there's no harm in telling you," the one who had damaged her ship said, grinning at her, "since you'll all be dead in a few seconds."

Unfazed, Bulma just hovered where she was, silently waiting for the soldier's testimony. She wanted to hear him out before she killed him, at least. Seeing that she didn't appear to be intimidated, the stranger continued.

"We were sent by Zarbon, Freeza's top officer, to eliminate three small chi readings that had appeared in this area. Those are you three, so I guess it's time for you to say goodbye!" He and his companion prepared to fire.

"Good night!" Bulma retorted, and she darted forward and slammed their heads together. She then smashed the now unconscious pair into the ground. She, Kuririn, and Gohan flew down beside the ship and masked their chis again.

"Was I right when I heard them say that they worked for Freeza?" she asked Kuririn and Gohan, furrowing her brow anxiously.

"That's what I heard," Gohan replied. Kuririn nodded in agreement.

Bulma sighed. "I don't know who this Freeza is exactly, but I have a feeling that we don't want to meet him if we can avoid it. Come on. Those two have scouters on, and that means they tracked us here. We need to move to a different spot before Freeza sends more scouts after us. Besides," she added, turning to look sadly at the craft that she and her father had worked so hard on, "the ship's worthless now, anyway. Even if I could patch the holes on the outside, they've blasted the engine beyond repair." She paused and lowered her head in disappointed rage. Now how were they ever going to get home? Kuririn and Gohan looked at each other uncomfortably. Bulma just remained where she was, unmoving and silent. She made no move to carry out what she had just ordered. She just stood there, staring at the ship, with its gaping hole and cracked frame. Kuririn was afraid she was going to cry.

"Bulma," he said finally, putting a hand on her shoulder and causing her to look up at him, "we'd better get going. Freeza knows where we are now, like you said, so we need to get away from here as soon as possible." She realized that her moping was only wasting time, so she nodded.

As fast as they could, they grabbed from the ship anything they thought would be useful, and they left the rest where it was. There really wasn't any point in taking the ship-specific items with them, since they wouldn't be able to use it to leave the planet anyway.

"Just keep your chi suppressed and walk as fast as you can," Kuririn said, giving Bulma back her dragon radar and trying to take her mind off the fact that they may never see home again. "You keep an eye open for a good place to set up camp, Bulma," he said. "Just keep in mind that it ought to be at least a couple hours away, so we won't run the risk of getting found again." Bulma nodded in agreement, and they began walking.

After about a half an hour of silence, Gohan broke in with something that he had obviously been pondering for a while. "Hey guys," he said. "I've been thinking. D'you guys think that Vegita's in league with this Freeza guy? It sounds like it could be possible, since he and the Saiyans do pretty much the same thing with the planets they conquer, not to mention the fact that they both have scouters and similar armor."

"It does seem likely, doesn't it?" Kuririn replied, looking thoughtful for a moment. "They both sound about as bad to me." They all agreed that it seemed more than coincidental that Vegita and Freeza were in the same line of work and involved with the same planet at the same time. It appeared that they had both Freeza and Vegita to contend with. They developed an even greater disliking for both of them because of this connection.

Not much else was said during the rest of their travels through the verdant, scenic landscape. After about an hour and a half, they came across a small cave in the side of a mountain. They decided that this would be an ideal place to set up camp. It was hidden, it was far from the ship, and it was relatively safe. After they'd stored all their things in the cave, they took a brief rest.

"So this is what we're reduced to," Bulma said angrily, shaking her head. "Hiding out in caves. I hope Yamucha and the others appreciate what we're doing for them."

"Aw, come on, Bulma," Kuririn laughed, smiling warmly at her. "I know you. You'd do just about anything to help Yamucha get back. You can't fool me."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, scowling as she nodded. "Of course I'd do anything to bring him and the others back. Living in a cave won't be too great an inconvenience for me, anyway," she added, shrugging and holding up one of her capsule cases - the one with the house capsules in it. She grinned at the puzzled look on Kuririn's face. "I brought a few house capsules with me," she explained. "A couple of them are small enough to fit in this cave, so we won't be too badly off. Still," she said, clenching the case tightly in her fist and looking down at her feet as she scowled again. "It just makes me so angry that this Freeza character has forced us into hiding like criminals." Suddenly she stopped. An incredibly large wave of chi had just bombarded her senses. Kuririn and Gohan must have sensed it too, because they were now all looking in the same direction - the one that the eerily powerful chi was coming from.

"Everybody hide in the cave!" Kuririn yelled, suddenly terrified. "Push your chi as close to zero as you possibly can! I've never felt such a powerful aura before!"

"How many strong, evil fighters can there be out there?" Bulma shrieked, trembling nervously. "It's like the evil committee of doom on this crazy planet!"

"I hope they didn't detect our chi and send a search party," Gohan gulped uneasily.

"Oh my God!" Bulma exclaimed, covering her mouth and pointing to a growing speck in the distance. The rapidly approaching enemies were so powerful that it almost hurt her head to sense them. To make things worse, they were heading straight for the cave!

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan stayed hidden in the cave, frozen in silent terror. Within the matter of seconds it took for the fast-moving pack of villains to fly overhead, Bulma and the boys felt as though they had endured hours of terrifying waiting. As quickly as they had come, though, they had gone. Bulma sank to her knees, breathing heavily. Just the feel of those chis was enough to make her woozy. She wondered how on Earth - or on Namek in this case - they were supposed to search for dragonballs with adversaries like those flying around?

"H- h- hey, Bulma?" Gohan suddenly stammered, turning pale. "D-didn't you say earlier that there were already f-four of the dragonballs in one place?"

Bulma immediately understood what Gohan was driving at. Her hands shook as she took out her dragon radar and turned it on. As the painful truth showed up on the screen, she closed her eyes and grit her teeth to keep from whimpering.

"They're moving along the same path as those strong chi auras - and fast." she said quietly, confirming Gohan's fear.

"Damn our luck," Kuririn sighed. "Well, I guess we'd better go see what they're up to. What do you say, Gohan?" Gohan nodded in reply.

"You mean you guys are actually going to go _after_ those monsters?" Bulma cried incredulously. "I could hardly keep from screaming, I was so scared! What on earth do you possibly think you can do around enemies like that?"

"We won't get anywhere if we don't know what we're up against," Kuririn told her. "Don't worry; we'll be careful. If they had been able to detect our suppressed chi with their scouters, they'd have come down here after us. We're only going to do a bit of reconnaissance, right Gohan?"

"Yeah," he said shakily. "It's not as if we're dumb enough to try to _fight_ those guys."

"Are you coming too, or are you going to go ahead and call Goku?" Kuririn asked her.

"I'm going to keep with the original plan, only this time I've got a lot more to report to Goku. You guys go do what you need to do, but don't expect me to be here when you get back. Now more than ever, we need to scramble to get those remaining dragonballs. After I construct another dragon radar, I'm going after one of the balls that they don't have. I won't take any unnecessary risks, and I hope you won't either. Remember this: they have four of the dragonballs, but if we get even one of the other three, then they won't be able to call the dragon. We'll worry about getting their four once we're sure they can't get an automatic win. Don't you guys try to be heroes, okay?" She gave Kuririn the dragon radar once again, and she gave his hand a supportive squeeze before she let it go. She then turned and began setting up the satellite transmitter.

Gohan and Kuririn could see the sense in Bulma's words. They all promised each other to be careful, and the boys left Bulma to her task. She sighed as she fiddled with the knobs on her communicator. She had at least a couple of hours' worth of work ahead of her, not to mention the time it would take her to fill Roshi in on what was happening. She only hoped that by the time she had finished calling home and constructing her new dragon radar, that the other dragonballs wouldn't already be taken by Freeza or Vegita.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Dodoria**

"Whew!" Bulma exclaimed, wiping the little beads of sweat off of her brow. "Finally! I don't think I've ever worked so fast before in my life! Wait 'til Gohan and Kuririn see this thing!"

She was extremely proud of her latest creation. With the aid of some parts from her portable radio and her handy little electronics tool set, she had managed to turn the scouter she'd taken from Raditz into a makeshift dragon radar. She smiled proudly as she put it on her ear and turned it on. She'd thought of everything. She'd even disabled the little transmitter inside it that allowed outside parties to listen to her. She frowned as she thought about the fact that it was because of that little transmitter that Vegita and Nappa had come to her planet, killed her friends, and thus caused her to have to go to a strange planet and face strange, new dangers.

Since it was tuned in to the low-frequency energy waves emitted by dragonballs, this scouter obviously couldn't measure chi power anymore. It no longer detected the high-frequency waves of energy emitted by higher life forms, but as far as Bulma was concerned, that was just fine. Neither she nor her friends needed such devices anyway, so more or less, she viewed her own scouter as a freebie dragon radar given to her by Raditz.

Once again she smiled at her genius. It was time to test her new gadget out. She pressed the little button on the side and slowly turned, scanning the horizon for nearby dragonballs. There were readings in several different directions and varying distances. There were five dragonballs all together in a group in one direction, and two others that were separate from them and each other.

"Well," she said, thinking for a moment. "Since those five over there are most likely with Freeza, I ought to try to go get the other two before he or Vegita can. Then I'll worry about getting those." She had only barely taken to the air when the twinge of approaching chi hit her all at once, causing her to stop cold.

"Three strong ones and one weak one," she muttered after a few moments. She concentrated harder on them, focusing her senses on each individual source of chi. "Hmm... I wonder... Is that...? Yes! It's got to be them! I'm positive it's them! It's Gohan and Kuririn out there with a much more powerful chi and a very weak one too. Well," she said, taking off her scouter and quickly putting it in one of her capsule bags. "The dragonballs will have to wait. Those two wouldn't reveal themselves like that unless they were forced to. Which must mean," she said, rocketing off towards her friends at top speed, "that they're being chased by that really big chi. We'll just have to see about that!"

She flew hard for a few minutes until she could feel Kuririn and Gohan less than a mile away. She screeched to a halt and waited. It wasn't more than a couple of seconds before she could see them coming. As they sped toward her, she could see at last what the weaker chi was. Kuririn was holding a small Namekian child! He was like a pint-sized Piccolo, but much, much cuter. Bulma was quite surprised at first, but she quickly shook her astonishment away. There was no time to admire the kid now. She had to act.

"Bulma!" Kuririn said, as he and Gohan stopped in front of her. "Get out of here! One of Freeza's men is after us for rescuing Dende here, and he's even stronger than Vegita! We've got to hide!"

"All right!" she said. "You and Gohan take Dende back to the cave and hide. I'll distract this guy until you've had a chance to reach safety. Now hurry! He's almost here!"

"No, dammit!" Kuririn yelled. "This is no time for heroics, Bulma! This guy means business!"

"So do I," Bulma said, as fire flashed in her eyes. "I know my limits. I promise I'll teleport away if I get in over my head. Trust me! Now go!"

For a moment, Kuririn looked as if he were about to protest again, but he just groaned angrily and took off. He was flying so fast that his chi was leaving a heated, noticeable trail. Gohan hesitated, and Bulma could see what was on his mind. It didn't take the two of them to get Dende to safety.

"You go too, Gohan," she ordered sternly. "There'll be no way for you to help me with this. You'll only be someone else for me to teleport away when I leave this fight." She shot him an imploring look, and after hesitating only a few moments more, he nodded, then flew as fast as he could after Kuririn. It was none too soon, either, because Bulma could now just barely see her opponent coming. She squarely faced her oncoming adversary as he zoomed up and stopped abruptly in front of her. He stared in shock and surprise at the unfamiliar woman hovering in front of him.

"Who are you?" he demanded, still staring at her with what could only be disbelief. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Bulma.

Without answering him, Bulma sized her new enemy up. He was rotund, pink, and spiny, and his little piggy eyes were sunk deeply in his face, but they held more than a small amount of malice in them. His chi, in terms of the degrees on a scouter, would probably have been a little more than twenty thousand. He was definitely out of her league in every regard. It didn't seem that his immense obesity slowed him down much, either. Still, Bulma was curious as to how well she might fare in a fight with the large, pink alien, considering the fact that she had quite an ace up her sleeve.

She suddenly felt a slight flare-up of his chi. He didn't seem to be tolerating her silent observations of him very patiently.

"Hey!" he said roughly. "What are you, deaf? I asked you a question!"

"My name is Bulma," she answered him with a frown. "May I ask the same of you?"

"It's Dodoria, and I'll ask the questions, you got that?" he shot at her snidely. "First of all, what happened to those two kids that had a Namek kid with 'em? I'm sure they just came by here; they aren't friends of yours, are they?"

Bulma suddenly had a brilliant inspiration. If she were to tell this moron that she knew where the remaining dragonballs were, he would have to take her to see Freeza! Once she had an audience with the mysterious villain, it would be a lot easier to get to his dragonballs. Once she was near them, she'd need only teleport away with them, and that would be it! It was so easy! Not only would she keep this jerk from getting to Kuririn, Gohan, and Dende, but she would also have a chance to get to Freeza's dragonballs! Still, she'd have to be sneaky about it and pretend that she wasn't really willing to be captured. It wouldn't make any sense to him if he suspected that she _wanted_ to see Freeza.

Bulma sneered at Dodoria. "Freeza's got a few screws loose if he thinks that chasing after small fry like that is going to get him the other two dragonballs," she chuckled, folding her arms and smiling craftily at Dodoria. "I've heard a lot about him, but I suppose one of his strong points isn't his judgment. Those shrimps are obviously incapable of anything, much less securing items as important as the dragonballs. It's insulting to think he'd overlook me in favor of them, to be perfectly honest."

"What do you know about the dragonballs?" Dodoria asked her, eying her suspiciously.

"I know Freeza's not going to get them," she replied, smirking at him in her best impression of Vegita. She had to play the part of an arrogant, smart-mouthed jerk if she was going to be realistic. "Only I know where to find them, and I'm sure as hell not going to tell you or your deluded boss what I know, so you can just forget about them!"

"Oh yeah?" Dodoria asked, grinning at her with those thick, purple lips of his. "Maybe you think you know about Freeza, but I'm sure you don't, otherwise you'd never have said what you just did. He's heard everything we've said by now, and if you think he'll let you just fly off after hearing what you just said, you've got another thing coming."

"Yeah, yeah, I know about your lame little scouters," she said, waving her hand at him impatiently. "So he's heard me. Big deal. Your precious Freeza's not here though, is he? It's just you, so it appears I don't have much to worry about, at least for the moment. Now," she said, turning around with a polite smile at Dodoria. "If you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than to talk to Freeza's little cronies. There are seven dragonballs out there with my name on 'em."

"You're not going anywhere!" Dodoria exclaimed. He shot a powerful energy blast at Bulma, grazing her right shoulder with it. She resisted the compelling urge to yell out in pain as she spun around to glare at him. She hadn't been expecting him to fire a chi blast so soon; she'd figured he'd at least try to tackle her first. It had been so fast, too. She'd never had a chance to dodge, and if he'd been shooting to kill, she wouldn't be alive anymore. Wiping the blood from her shoulder, she glared contemptuously at Dodoria.

"So a fight is what you want, is it?" she spat at him, assuming her most solid fighting stance.

"If you refuse to come with me quietly, then yes," he chuckled sinisterly. "Freeza's very interested in hearing what you have to say about the dragonballs, girl. He's already given me the order. You're coming with me."

"If you think you can take me, you're welcome to try," she snarled at him, her chi flaring indignantly. "I have no desire to speak to a barbarian like him, if he's even half as foul as you!" Although she was still proceeding with her plan, she was quickly forgetting about that in favor of her anger at being shot at by this cretin. She sailed into Dodoria, jabbing and kicking at him with all the speed and intensity she could muster. At first she thought she had him on the run, as she managed to land a few solid hits, and he was backing off ever-so-slightly. The fact remained, however, that he was a much more skilled fighter than Bulma was, and it wasn't long before he was back in full control of their exchange.

Nearly immediately, he began to seriously work Bulma over. It seemed to her that without warning, she was suddenly being attacked from all sides. As she struggled to break free from the constrictive barrage of punches and kicks, she gradually began to lose her strength, and more and more the excruciating pain of his blows was beginning to be her primary focus. It didn't take much of this at all to cause Bulma to panic. She tried to teleport away, but thanks to the distraction of being hit so hard and so often, she was unable to focus enough energy to stop time.

Kuririn's words flashed in her mind, and she found herself seriously regretting walking into this fight. She angrily cursed herself for being so reckless and hot-headed. After so many violent strikes to her vital points, she barely had the ability to keep herself aloft, much less defend herself. Right now, the only things keeping her from falling to the ground were Dodoria's constant blows all over her body. She tried to scream, but she could scarcely breathe enough through the barrage of strikes to let out more than a wheezing cry. She couldn't take much more of this before her body quit on her altogether.

All at once, she didn't feel any pain in her body at all. It was very bizarre, and if Dodoria had stopped knocking the wind out of her, she might have considered it more carefully.

"I'm gonna make you wish you'd never sassed me like that," Dodoria cackled, drawing his fist back for a final, devastating hit. "It's lights out for you, girlie!"

As she closed her eyes to wait for the final blow, she realized after a few terrifying moments that it had never come. She suddenly had the strangest sensation that she was falling.

Bulma opened her eyes. She realized - not without a great deal of surprise - that she was indeed falling. She slammed roughly into the ground, her eyes popping open as what little breath she had in her was forced from her lungs. As she struggled to refill them, she tried to turn herself over to push up onto her hands and knees, but she realized that her body wasn't responding to her commands. The cold numbness that had crept into every limb forced into her dazed mind the frightening realization that she had been paralyzed. She couldn't feel anything below her neck. It was a terrifying, horrific thought, and since she couldn't turn her head to look for him, she could only stare upward in an effort to see where Dodoria had gone. She cried aloud in horrified surprise at what she saw. Vegita was up there, facing off against Dodoria! Bulma watched numbly as the two began to exchange insults with one another.

"What's going on?" she asked herself. "If Vegita's on Freeza's side, why is he confronting Dodoria? It doesn't make any sense, unless..." Her eyes opened wide as she entertained the thought that he might be acting alone after all. Could it have been mere coincidence that he and this Freeza character had the same agenda?

Dodoria pointed at Bulma, and he threw some more angry words at Vegita. Vegita glanced briefly at her, and a flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes, but he didn't allow it to alter his indifferent expression. Bulma sighed heavily as she realized the painful truth. These two were going to fight it out, and the winner would get the privilege of beating the location of the two remaining dragonballs out of her. The icy grip of fear was still clutching her mind, but for now, she was too exhausted and battered to care which of the monsters up there beat the other. All she could do now was just hope that the two bastards would kill each other, because that was about the only chance – albeit a ridiculously slim one – that she had left.

Through the haze of her growing drowsiness, Bulma desperately tried to follow the ferocious battle that began in the sky above her. After only a few minutes, she was surprised to observe that Dodoria wasn't such an even match for Vegita as she had imagined. In fact, Vegita didn't even seem to have broken a sweat! Bulma marveled at the incredible increase in power that she sensed in him, compared to what she had sensed on Earth. He was like Goku, she decided. It seemed that no matter how badly Goku was battered and broken after a battle, he always seemed to bounce back many times stronger.

Dodoria was breathing heavily by now, and he was very bruised up. Bulma could tell by the panicked expression on his face that he knew what kind of danger he was in, and he was getting desperate. Vegita's chi was flaring impressively, and Bulma had a feeling that a fatal blow was not long in coming. Dodoria was hysterically babbling to Vegita, but she didn't really expect any kind of reprieve from the angry Saiyan. She'd seen the same look directed at her before, and she knew what it meant.

She had been wrong this time, however. Vegita suddenly and unexpectedly appeared very interested in what Dodoria had to say. Dodoria talked to him for several minutes, and all the while Vegita's expression grew more and more astonished. When Dodoria had finished whatever it was that he'd had to say, he backed away slowly at first, as if he thought Vegita was too shocked to notice his retreat, and then he took off at a breakneck pace.

Bulma saw an evil grin flash on Vegita's face, and with cruel precision, he shot an enormous chi blast directly at Dodoria. It immediately engulfed the unfortunate henchman, and when the beam had dissipated, there was no trace of Dodoria to be seen or felt.

Vegita slowly let his chi level out and normalize. He had won. Now that he was no longer hindered, he turned his gaze on Bulma.

Bulma stiffened as she stared back into the cool, calculating eyes of the killer Saiyan. The victor had been decided, and now it was time for him to come and claim his prize. She made no effort to conceal the revulsion and indignant fury she felt toward him. She didn't let him see the fear, however. The sheer terror she felt at being alone and helpless with this Saiyan monster - the only emotion of her entire being that rivaled her anger right now, and she refused to let him see it. She didn't know which would have been worse: being in the situation she was presently in, or his knowing how much it scared her.

Vegita casually descended toward her, shooting her one of those insufferable smirks of his as he approached. Bulma didn't know what to do. She knew there was absolutely nothing she could do to keep him away from her; she was having trouble keeping herself from slipping into unconsciousness as it was. She had never felt so vulnerable and afraid in her life. She hated him for it. She wanted to kill him, that damn Saiyan, for causing her to feel so helpless. Before she realized they were there, tears – yet another sign of weakness – began streaming down her face. She blinked angrily, clearing the blurry image before her. Bulma wished that he would just do her a favor and kill her. Even that would be better than this humiliating situation.

When Vegita was only ten feet above her, he stopped. He looked away from her and scowled as he focused on a speck that was growing in the distance. Out of habit, Bulma focused her senses on the new distraction, and to her surprise, she discovered that another powerful fighter was approaching. She knew it wasn't Kuririn or Gohan; he was approaching from the wrong direction, and besides, he was much stronger than Dodoria had been. Within seconds, the mysterious fighter had flown into her line of sight and stopped a few yards from Vegita. After first observing her, he glared with distaste at the arrogant Saiyan.

Bulma marveled at the beauty of this man. He was incredibly handsome, with long, green hair braided down to his waist, and smooth, blue-green skin. He was muscular and well-proportioned, and he certainly seemed very sure of himself. He, like Vegita and Dodoria, was also wearing the armor worn by Freeza's henchmen.

"What do you want, Zarbon?" Vegita snapped at him, obviously annoyed by this new fighter's appearance. "Have you come to throw your life away too?"

"I've been ordered by Lord Freeza to take this girl in for questioning," he said, pointing at Bulma with a brief downward glance. "It seems she has some knowledge of the whereabouts of the dragonballs. And," he added, as a grin began to play at the corners of his mouth, "to eliminate you, Vegita. You've made Lord Freeza very angry, you know. He doesn't react fondly when one of his men turns against him."

"I can't stomach the prospect of being that fool's lackey any longer," Vegita chuckled, sneering derisively at Zarbon. "Unlike you, I have more self-respect than to allow myself to be led around on Freeza's leash. If you think you can get rid of me, then you're more than welcome to try, but I warn you," he added, grinning and intensifying his chi, "you won't find me so easy to defeat."

"Nor you me," was all Zarbon said in reply. They began to fight, and what a fight it was! Although Vegita still seemed to have the upper hand, this fight was worlds more violent and loud than the one with Dodoria had been.

Bulma tried as hard as she could to keep up with their movements, but they were far beyond anything she could follow. She didn't know whom to root for, but she was rather glad that Vegita wasn't having such an easy time anymore. He was having to work a lot harder for this fight.

All the same, she was beginning to have considerable difficulty in keeping her eyes open. It had begun to feel as though she was in a dream. Everything around her had begun to move very slowly, and she was no longer aware of her injuries, or even of Vegita and Zarbon. She only had a vague feeling that she was becoming very cold. Instinctively, her mind screamed at her, "Don't go to sleep!" but she didn't want to listen. She was so very, very tired. She wanted nothing more than to succumb to the relaxing, easy slumber that was drawing her out of herself. Finally, she lost all will to resist, and she gave in to the compelling urge to fall asleep. Although by then she was too far-gone to hear it, Vegita had suddenly let out a yell of surprise as Zarbon underwent a horrifying and powerful transformation.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Lord Freeza**

The first sensation Bulma experienced when she woke up was an unusually light feeling. To be more precise, it seemed as if her body had somehow become less dense. This puzzled her, so she forced her heavy eyelids to lift so that she could better analyze her surroundings. What she saw both frightened and amazed her. She was immersed in a tank full of clear, blue liquid, and she had what seemed to be a kind of breathing apparatus attached to her face, as well as a few wired sensors attached to her forehead.

She began feeling along the inside of her enclosure with her hands. It was smooth, round, and metallic-feeling. She looked around some more and noticed that she was facing a round window, like a porthole, in the tank. She tried to lean forward to look through it, as she couldn't see very well in the liquid, but she found herself somewhat restrained by the sensors and breathing tubes. She sat back angrily and tried to think. What was she doing here? Suddenly she remembered what had happened to her. She'd had the snot beaten out of her by Dodoria. Now, she was surprised to realize, she could move again, and she didn't feel any pain. In fact, she had never felt so refreshed in her life!

She was still marveling at this when the liquid suddenly began draining out of the tank. "I suppose now I'll get to see who put me in here!" she thought anxiously to herself. She waited patiently for the water to abate, and a few seconds after it had drained away, all the little sensors on her face popped off and retracted into little niches on the inside of the tank. Her breathing mask also detached itself, and now that she was free, Bulma leaned forward to look out the porthole again. She jumped back in surprise, however, when the entire front half of the tank suddenly began to move away from the back half. It was opening up! Bulma sat apprehensively where she was and waited to see what the rising door would reveal. She was very astonished by what she saw. There was a dark-brown alien in what resembled a lab coat standing there, holding his hand - or appendage, at least - out toward Bulma. He seemed to be smiling at her, though she found it hard to tell, given the unfamiliar contours of his face.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Bulma to get out of the tank. "Grab my hand; I'll help you out of there." Bulma reluctantly did as he asked and allowed him to help her step out of the tank.

"Who are you? And where am I?" she asked him, backing away a little and glancing around in surprise. She wasn't sure what to make of his polite demeanor. He was the first person she'd met on this planet thus far who hadn't threatened her safety as soon as she'd met him.

"You may call me Isha," he said, bowing slightly. "I am the head doctor of this place. You are in the ship of Lord Freeza, and I suspect you may have already heard of him by now. He certainly knows how to make a name for himself."

Bulma grimaced. "How did I get here?" she asked, feeling a little more comfortable now, but nevertheless more alert. She didn't like the idea of being cooped up Freeza's ship, but at least she wasn't paralyzed anymore.

"You were brought here by a soldier who goes by the name of Zarbon," Isha said. "You were injured beyond any hope of questioning, so Freeza had him take you to me. It was a good thing he did, too, because you had already slipped into a coma when we put you in the rejuvenation tank."

"Rejuvenation?" Bulma said in amazement. "You mean that huge fish tank healed me?"

Isha laughed. "I suppose you could say that. Of course, I was here to monitor your heart rate and breathing, but these really are remarkable machines. Top of the line, too. I've not heard of any better way to heal a wounded soldier, either. I've heard we have the best healing technology in the universe."

"Amazing," Bulma agreed. She was indeed impressed, but she wondered how he would react to seeing a Sensu bean in action.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Bulma said, suddenly amazed. "If Zarbon was the one who brought me here, that would mean that he defeated Vegita in their battle, right?"

"I should say so!" Isha exclaimed. "Vegita was no better off than you were when Zarbon brought him in. He's over there in that tank now. He should be done in another half-hour." Isha pointed to the rejuvenation tank to the right of the one Bulma had stepped out of.

"Will he be all right?" she asked Isha, stepping over to glance at the sleeping Saiyan inside. Seeing him like this reminded her of how he had looked after Gohan had smashed him on Earth. Although she hated his guts, she couldn't help feeling just a bit sorry for him. Freeza sounded like the type who'd enjoy killing him slowly for doing what Zarbon said he'd done. He certainly couldn't teleport away like she could. Judging from that enormous chi she sensed on the other side of the ship, she felt pretty certain that this was going to be the last time she'd see Vegita alive.

"Well, he'll be healed, if that's what you're wondering," Isha replied, chuckling sinisterly. "As for all right, I don't think Freeza will keep him healthy for long. This soldier's committed high treason, and he's killed two of Freeza's top soldiers on top of that. Lord Freeza will surely destroy Vegita once he finds out where he hid that dragonball he took from that other village of Nameks."

Bulma was about to ask him in surprise to run that by her again, but she caught herself in time. If she wanted these guys to think that she knew all about the dragonballs, it wouldn't do to act surprised by something like that. "He may not need to," she grunted. "If Freeza gets its location from me, the point will be moot, won't it?"

"Quite true," Isha chuckled. "That's a very good point."

Someone knocked on the door to the medical room. "Is she ready yet?" a gruff voice called in at them from the other end.

"Yes," Isha called back. "Now listen," he said, gently pushing Bulma toward the door. "Freeza knows you know the location of the other two dragonballs, and he's going to question you. Give accurate answers to all the questions he asks, and do everything he says. I heard a rumor from one of the guards that he's thinking of letting you join up with us. If you want to stay alive, I suggest you join. Not everyone who starts out on the wrong side of Lord Freeza gets the chance you're getting."

"Lucky me," Bulma thought sarcastically as he opened the door. She walked out into the hall and found herself between two armed guards whom she felt she could easily defeat without breaking a sweat. Freeza certainly liked taking chances.

"Come with us," one that resembled a frog told her. "Lord Freeza has requested an audience with you. Our lord likes to get to know his guests. He's a very gracious host." He and his partner laughed, and they led her at gunpoint down the hallway.

Bulma didn't give them any trouble. She was curious to meet this all-powerful tyrant, and the initial idea of taking his dragonballs had not been forgotten. She wondered what he would look like, and what he planned to wish for. Besides, she was completely healed now, and she could teleport at any time she wanted to, so she didn't see any harm in allowing herself to be led to speak with him. One thing she wasn't going to do, however, was give this one a chance to attack her before she left. She was going to find out all she could from him, and then she was going to leave, and if possible, take his dragonballs along with her. No matter what he said to her, she wasn't going to let him keep the dragonballs if she could help it!

Bulma grew more and more nervous as she approached the part of the ship that contained an enormous source of chi within it. She was certain that it was Freeza. She only hoped that her knees wouldn't quake as they had when she had first sensed his power with Gohan and Kuririn. Finally, the two guards stopped at a large door. One of them pushed a button next to it.

"Lord Freeza," he said. "Your 'guest' is ready to see you now." He grinned at the other guard.

"Send her in," a courteous, gentlemanly voice responded, "and leave us."

"Yes sir," the soldier replied. He pressed another button and the door slid open. Bulma walked - as fearlessly as she could force herself to appear - into the room. The door closed with a snap behind her, and she noted mentally that she might have to force it open when she teleported away. She glanced at a chair on the opposite end of a table, and then she saw him - a rather short, armored being, smiling politely at her. He had the oddest features Bulma had ever seen, and Bulma had seen some odd creatures in the past several minutes. What caught her eye the most were his horns; they were jet black, shiny, and sharply pointed. Even they didn't amaze her more than the intensity of his chi, though. It must have been at least 500,000 degrees on a scouter. Bulma was astounded that any one person could have such an incredible battle aura. This person was truly unlike anything she'd ever met.

"Please, sit down," he said, motioning toward the chair opposite him and nodding politely at her. "Do make yourself comfortable."

Cocking her head to one side as she considered the odd politeness of his demeanor, Bulma did as he asked and sat down. "So you are Freeza," she said, really more to convince herself than to address him. "I have to admit that I'm rather fascinated to be able to meet you. I've heard quite a lot about you, you know."

"All good things, I hope," he said, sipping some kind of red liquid from a wineglass and smiling at her.

"Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of 'good,'" she replied, leaning back in her chair and smiling back at him. "But seriously, Freeza, let's cut through all this nonsense and get down to why I'm here in the first place. As impressive as your ship is, I don't really fancy being here any longer than need be."

"If you wish," Freeza said, closing his eyes and setting down the glass of liquid. "I trust you already know what I want."

"Yes," Bulma replied, nodding. "You want me to tell you where to find the remaining two dragonballs. But if you don't mind, may I ask you a few questions first?"

At first, Freeza appeared rather surprised to have her taking such liberties, especially in such close quarters with him, but no sooner had the surprise entered his expression than it disappeared and he smiled at her again. "You don't seem very afraid of me. I suppose I'm unaccustomed to that. Very well. Go ahead and ask me anything you want. I'm sure I can provide you with the answers you seek."

"Thank you," Bulma replied. This first one had really been bothering her. "First of all, how did you find so many dragonballs so quickly?"

"That was simple," he chuckled, grinning at her. "You mentioned to Dodoria that you already knew about our scouters, am I correct?" Bulma nodded. "We simply used the scouters to track down Namek villages. Every one we encountered had a dragonball hidden in it."

"And the Nameks just handed them over to you, no questions asked?" Bulma said in disbelief.

Freeza laughed. "Unfortunately for them, no, they didn't. We had to kill quite a few to make the others talk. And since they had been so terribly rude to me, I disposed of the rest as well."

One of Bulma's eyebrows twitched angrily. "Five entire villages of Nameks, all killed?" Freeza grinned cruelly in reply. Bulma should have suspected as much. Someone who had no reservations about destroying entire civilizations probably wouldn't give a damn about some innocent, peaceful Namek villages either. She shook off her disgust as best as she could and continued.

"I have one more question for you," she said, staring critically at his smug face. "If you were to collect all seven dragonballs, what would you wish for?"

A smile of pleasure slowly spread across Freeza's face. "_When_ I gather all seven dragonballs I am going to wish for eternal life," he answered dreamily. He seemed to be imagining himself immortal, even as he spoke.

Bulma nodded as she realized that it was a pretty predictable answer. "Just like Vegita," she muttered aloud.

"Ha!" Freeza exclaimed. "Vegita's a fool! He actually believes he's strong enough to muscle my dragonballs away from me! But," he said, glancing at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I suppose the little monkey must have some kind of brain in his head if he's realized that he'll have to be immortal to oppose me. I'll at least give him that."

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong," Bulma began, "but I fail to see why a person like you would need to be immortal. Surely you're the most powerful being in the universe! Why, the moment I sensed your chi I could tell that you must register at least five hundred thousand degrees on one of those scouters of yours. Why in the world would someone so powerful even _need_ to be immortal? It's not as though you have to worry about being assassinated or anything."

Freeza gaped at Bulma, dumbfounded by her matter-of-fact observations. "How can you tell what my fighting power is?" he exclaimed. "Not one of my scouters can even go that high!"

Bulma had forgotten that these guys relied on the scouters to determine an enemy's strength. "Let's just say that I have a sort of sixth sense when it comes to these things," she said, waving it away. "But that's not important. What I'm wondering is why someone like you would bother to make such a wish."

"Because," Freeza said, standing up and dramatically balling his hands into fists. "Then I would be able to rule the universe forever! Even though I am as you say, and no one can oppose me, even I will grow old and die one day. If I were to wish for immortality, no one would ever stand in my way! I would be an everlasting god!" His lips curled into a self-indulgent grin at the very thought of it.

Bulma had heard enough. This guy was definitely bad news, and it wasn't a good idea to let him have any of the dragonballs in his possession for any longer. She knew that once she stole his, she was going to have to get the others together fast - before he could catch up with her. She stood upright too. Now was the time to act. Before she could even utter the first syllable however, an alarm siren went off, and Bulma heard explosions on the other side of the ship.

"What the...?" she said, and Freeza flipped a switch on an intercom on the wall.

"Report!" he barked into it.

"Lord Freeza!" a distraught-sounding soldier cried back. "It's Vegita! He broke out of his rejuvenation tank and has escaped with the dragonballs! We await your orders, sir!"

"Go after him, you idiots!" Freeza howled angrily. "Dammit! Just tell Zarbon this: if he doesn't bring all five of my dragonballs and Vegita back to me within the span of one hour, then he can expect the same treatment I have reserved for that stupid monkey!" He smacked the intercom off violently, causing a crack to form in the wall.

Freeza turned to go out the door, but he suddenly remembered Bulma. "I'm giving you one hour to think it over," he said, opening the door and scowling at her. "But I'll warn you now; if you don't tell me where the other two dragonballs are, I'll let my men play with you for a little while until you're more cooperative. And," he added, chuckling fiendishly, "considering the fact that we so rarely entertain females aboard my ships, I know that my men would relish the kind of fun a prisoner like you could offer them!"

That was too much. This guy was pure evil to have committed all the acts she had heard about, and she hated him not only for that, but now also for threatening her with such a vile, beastly thing. Bulma spun around to look him straight in the face. He was about to close the door behind him.

"Freeza!" she snarled forcefully. Her arms were pressed firmly against her sides, and her fists were clenched in tight balls. Freeza turned around and stared at her in irritated surprise.

"Freeza!" she repeated, more quietly this time, but no less forcefully. "I don't need an hour to decide. I already have an answer for you."

"Well, I must say, I'm surprised," he chuckled smugly. "I'd never have expected you to buckle so quickly."

"Oh, I'm not buckling," Bulma replied coldly. "I will not now, nor will I ever tell someone like you how or where to find the other dragonballs. Sorry Freeza, but there is no way I am going to let a power-crazed tyrant like you ever see the eternal dragon. I'm going to do everything in my power to see to it that you don't get your wish."

To say that Freeza was upset by Bulma's words was an understatement. His eyes narrowed and Bulma felt his chi flare slightly.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear..." he began, trying not to let his rage get the better of him.

"Loud an' clear," Bulma interjected, saluting him mockingly. "See ya, Freeza! Rapid teleport!"

Rather than going through the veritable maze of hallways in Freeza's ship, Bulma simply blasted her way out through the window of the room she was in. Once outside, she looked around. She found herself surrounded by nothing but unfamiliar territory. She had been unconscious when Zarbon had brought her here, so she had no idea where she was, or how to get back to the cave. Well, she could write that idea off for the moment, anyway. She had to go after the dragonballs. Freeza and Vegita were getting much too close to victory for her to relax now.

She landed on the ground outside Freeza's ship and sat down for a second to think. She could either go after the five dragonballs Vegita had just stolen or the two she had picked up on her scouter earlier. She knew one of the two had to be Vegita's anyway, and she definitely didn't want to deal with him if she could avoid it. That man scared her half to death. Even Freeza didn't frighten her as much as Vegita did, which didn't exactly make sense when one considered the fact that Freeza was easily ten times more powerful. Nevertheless, the idea of taking on the smirking, explosive Saiyan made her weak in the knees with terror, and she wanted nothing more than to never see him again. Sighing, she decided to go after one of the two stray dragonballs and hope she didn't come across Vegita's first. "Why do I have to be such a coward?" she grumbled, rolling her eyes in self-loathing.

Bulma got up and floated up above Freeza's compound. Which direction should she take? She didn't know where to go, since she didn't have her dragon radar on, and she couldn't use that until she snapped back into real time. She knew that she would have to put some distance between her and the ship, so she just took off in the direction she happened to be facing and hoped for the best. She grinned as she thought of how surprised Freeza would be when he saw that she'd escaped him so easily. Boy, would he be mad! She just hoped that she could avoid him until after they had made their wish. She certainly didn't want to have to fight such a powerful creature! Wondering why in the world these things always seemed to happen to her, she flew on, speeding farther and farther away from Freeza's ship.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Saichorou, the Namek Elder**

Bulma stopped flying and looked around. Yes, this would do. She had flown for hours – hours in stopped time, that is - and must have flown at least five hundred miles away from Freeza's compound by now. Rather fatigued by her long sprint, Bulma descended to the ground and allowed time to flow normally again.

Now, first things first. She had to find out the locations of the dragonballs. Whichever one or ones were closest to her would be the ones she'd have to retrieve first. She couldn't keep zooming around and teleporting like this and expect to stay energetic forever. Bulma bent down and pulled her capsule case out of its hidden compartment in her boot. Her father - as ingenious as ever - had thought of that; he hadn't wanted his daughter "traipsing about on a new planet fighting baddies without her capsules." Bulma had laughed at him then, but now she was glad he'd thought of it. If Freeza's men had searched her and found those, her dragon radar would have been compromised. She opened up the case and took out the travel bag capsule. She popped it open and dug around in the large suitcase until she found her scouter turned dragon radar.

Bulma put the device on her ear and switched it on. Much to her surprise - and utter delight, I might add - she saw that she was only ten or eleven miles away from the nearest dragonball. Even more surprising, she was hundreds of miles away from the group of five that Vegita stole, and nearly a thousand away from the other single.

Hoping that the one she was going to find wasn't the one that Vegita had already stolen, Bulma focused her senses on the location of the closest dragonball. There were two weak chis over there... She couldn't help but wonder just who was out there. The idea that Freeza had set up another base out there seemed unlikely, especially since she didn't think he'd send such low-level warriors after dragonballs. Besides, those chis out there actually felt somewhat friendly. It suddenly dawned on Bulma that they must be Nameks. Yes, that would explain it. She smiled. Finally, she would get to meet someone on this planet who didn't work for Freeza! Well, if they were Nameks, she certainly didn't want to visit them looking like one of Freeza's soldiers. She was sure that those chis were in the same place as the dragonball, so she didn't need her scouter any more anyway.

After putting it back in her travel bag, she recapsulized it, and put the capsule back in her capsule case, which then went back into the little compartment in her boot. Having done that, she took off at a moderate pace toward the chi sources ahead of her. She didn't want to teleport; she wanted the Nameks to know she was coming. Still, at the same time she knew that by revealing herself like this she was probably letting Freeza know where she was too. She'd have to tell the Nameks this up front. If she was putting them in danger along with herself, she planned to take full responsibility for them and get them both to safety if necessary.

As Bulma flew on, she eventually noticed a tall pillar of rock in the distance. At the top of it she could see a white speck, and it was from there that she sensed the chi presences she had sensed earlier. She pressed on, and the white speck slowly grew and began to show its true shape. When Bulma was able to see it for what it really was, she smiled in relief. It was a building, and it bore such a strong resemblance to her ship that she was certain it was Namek-made. She flew the rest of the way over and landed lightly on the grass out in front of the white, spiky house. She saw that the entrance was open.

Bulma thought about walking in, but she almost immediately decided against it. Not only would that have been rude, but she probably wouldn't be welcomed as easily if she just walked in without announcement. Bulma crept more closely to the entrance of the Namekian house until she was about three feet away, and she warily peered inside. Why hadn't anyone come out yet? Were they hiding from her? Was it possible that they could be afraid of her?

Bulma was about to call out to the inhabitants when a figure suddenly appeared in the doorway. She jumped back defensively, gasping aloud at the suddenness of the person's appearance in her field of view. The figure stepped out into the light, and Bulma stared at him in surprise. He appeared to be an almost exact copy of Piccolo! Bulma just stared at him, not knowing what to say. In her surprise, all thoughts of why she had come had left her mind entirely.

The Namek spoke first. "What business have you here?" he asked Bulma in the Namek language. "Why have you come to our planet?" He was frowning imposingly at her, and she got the distinct impression that he didn't want her there.

When he had first started speaking, she'd given a start in surprise. She'd forgotten all about the possibility that the Nameks didn't speak her language. Now more than ever, she was glad she knew a bit of theirs. She smiled politely at him offered him a respectful bow.

"Please forgive me if I have frightened you or the other one in your dwelling," she began slowly, carefully choosing her words. "My name is Bulma. I also hope you'll forgive me for my crude use of your language, as I haven't had a chance to test it until now."

The Namek did a double-take and gaped at Bulma in surprise. Apparently he hadn't expected her to know how to speak his language. Bulma continued, now encouraged by his astonished - but in no way resentful - reaction.

"I hope I can take that to mean that you understand me?" she asked. The Namek nodded, still staring at her in wide-eyed astonishment. "Good," Bulma sighed with relief. "I was afraid that my accent was so bad that you wouldn't understand me. Well, I won't waste your time," she began, exchanging her expression for a more serious one. "I won't lie to you either. There are some very bad men on your planet. I don't know if your language has the word I'm looking for to describe them, but in my language we'd call them 'evil.' Well, these evil men have done some terrible things. I don't know exactly how to tell you this, as there's no encouraging way to put it. I suppose I'll just have to say it. These men, and especially Freeza, the worst of all of them, have already killed off at least five entire villages of your people."

She expected the Namek to at least be surprised at this, but much to her own surprise, he wasn't. He just waited patiently for her to continue. His calm, stoic features really reminded her of Piccolo. She continued. "Their only reason for doing such a terrible thing is that they are trying to gather all the dragonballs to make a wish. To be more specific, Freeza wants to make a wish. He wants to wish for immortality. If he were to succeed," she added, "we'd all be doomed to die by his hand, and the rest of the universe will be under his tyrannical rule. I can't allow that to happen. I want to gather the dragonballs before he does so that I can make my wish and keep him from winning. That's why I'm here," she said, gesturing toward the house. "I detected a dragonball here earlier, and since Freeza is off trying to get others, I've come for this one."

"What would you wish for if you were to gather all seven of the dragonballs?" he asked her, eying her critically.

Bulma told him about the fight with Vegita on Earth and how her friends had died. She explained about the dragonballs on Earth, and how they had found out from the Saiyans that there was another set of dragonballs on Namek. "So," she said, "Gohan, Kuririn and I came here to your planet to ask if we could use your dragonballs. But when we got here, we found that Freeza had beaten us here and was already wreaking havoc. It hadn't even occurred to me that he was killing your people until Kuririn and Gohan came back with Dende from the fifth village - and with Dodoria, another of Freeza's henchmen, right behind them."

"What?" the Namek said, suddenly becoming interested. "Dende? Did he escape?"

"Oh yes," Bulma said, smiling. "I made sure of that. I told my friends to take him and go back to the cave and hide, while I stayed behind to hold Dodoria off. I was a little too gung-ho about the whole thing, though. He nearly killed me and I was captured, but at least the others got away safely."

"How did you escape from Freeza?" he asked her. Bulma told him everything that had taken place from her defeat by Dodoria to her escape from Freeza.

"And then I came here, hoping to find another dragonball," she finished.

"You did all that for a child you didn't even know," he muttered quietly, not sure he should believe what he had heard.

Bulma smiled. "They needed a distraction," she said. "None of us was a match for Dodoria, but I had a more secure means of escape than they did. I did it for Dende, but I also did it for my friends. They would have done the same thing for me. They risked being chased back by Freeza to rescue Dende, and let me tell you, that took a lot of bravery. Please believe me," she pleaded. "We're here to help, but we can't help you if you don't help us. I know that you have a dragonball here. I won't force you to give it to me, but I really hope that you will. I know that Freeza wouldn't give a second thought to killing you for it."

"It's not me I'm worried about," he said softly, looking back toward the house. He looked back at Bulma and sighed. "All right," he said. "I believe you enough to bring you in to talk to him."

"Who?" Bulma asked, suddenly curious. "I sensed another presence in there when I first came, but you were the only one who came out. Is he the one you're talking about?"

"Yes," he replied. "He is the Saichorou. He is the oldest of all us Nameks, and he is our father on top of that. He's a very kind, generous leader, and there isn't a Namek alive who wouldn't give his life to save him. But," he added sadly, "he's very old, and I don't think he has much time left. That is all the more reason that we get you to use the dragonballs soon. He is their creator, and if he dies, then they go with him." He pointed toward the house's entrance, and he began speaking in Bulma's language. "Please come in," he told her, offering her a smile for the first time since they'd met.

Bulma was so shocked that she nearly tripped over. "Wait a minute!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me you could speak my language?"

He laughed. "You have such a mastery of our tongue that I just wanted to hear you speak it. You have an odd but pleasant accent."

"You gave me quite a workout," she laughing nervously. "I suppose it's a good thing that I studied it so extensively on the trip to your planet."

He smiled. Suddenly he seemed to remember something. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing politely as Bulma had done. "I had forgotten to introduce myself earlier. My name is Nail. I am an assistant and companion to Saichorou. Forgive me if I seemed rude to you; it's just that I'm very protective of him. He's very weak and vulnerable right now, and I'd never let anything threaten him."

"I understand," Bulma said, nodding. He motioned for her to follow him again, and she walked with him into the white house. It was dimly lit by sunlight, but the room inside seemed to have no discernible features. Before she could comment on this, the ground jolted beneath her. She and Nail were being elevated on a circular platform, similar to the one on her ship. She waited patiently until the platform came to a halt on the new level. What she saw left her so astonished that she dared not speak. Sitting before her was an enormous, old Namek. He had to have been at least twenty feet high sitting down! He was covered with wrinkles too - so much so, in fact, that she couldn't even make out his eyes on his face. Aside from those superficial observations, Bulma could sense that there was something warm and reassuring about him. He reminded her of a benevolent old grandfather. She could tell right away that this was a man of kindness. Nail stepped forward toward the immense Namek.

"Saichorou," he said. "This is Bulma. She is the person who we sensed earlier, and I think that you should meet her. She said some things to me outside that I really think you should hear."

"Thank you, Nail," Saichorou replied, smiling at Bulma. "I would like very much to speak with her. If," he added, addressing her, "you don't mind, that is."

"No sir," she said, bowing respectfully. "I would be most honored."

"Please," he said warmly. "There's no need to be so formal. Come a little closer so that I can see you better."

Bulma obliged, and she walked up to him until she was about five feet in front of him. "Can you see me all right now?" she asked.

"Yes, that's much better," he replied. "Thank you. Now, since Nail has no doubt told you who I am, why don't you tell me who you are and how you came to find yourself on our peaceful planet?"

"I would gladly do so, sir," Bulma said anxiously. "But before I do, I feel I should warn you that by my being here, you and Nail may be in danger, and if that's the case we don't have much time to waste on explanations."

"Well, in that case, why don't we do this by a faster method, then?" he said, smiling mysteriously. "Don't get so agitated, child. Here. Come let me place my hand on your head."

Bulma found it strangely easy to trust him, so even though she didn't know why he wanted to touch her head, she did as he asked. "What are you doing?" she asked after a few seconds, puzzled and curious about his behavior. Was this some kind of Namek custom?

Saichorou laughed. "No, this is not a custom of ours," he chuckled. "I don't communicate with this method very often at all."

"You read my mind!" Bulma exclaimed. "Literally!"

Saichorou smiled. "Yes, I did," he replied. "I hope you have no objections to my invasion of your privacy," he added.

Bulma thought for a second, but then she smiled back. "Under the circumstances," she laughed, "I'd say it's the best thing we can do. My privacy will have to wait. There are many more important things at stake here, and time is of the essence."

Saichorou nodded. "All right then," he said. "Now just relax and try not to think any untoward thoughts about me."

Bulma almost wanted to laugh. The guy was cracking jokes to calm her down! She hated how he was going to have to find out about his people - his children, no less - and how they'd been mercilessly slaughtered. She hoped he wouldn't cry; she didn't know if she'd be able to handle that. She sighed, and Saichorou removed his hand. Bulma looked up at him fearfully, but to her astonishment, he was actually smiling at her!

"Why...?" she began, staring first at him and then at Nail in surprise. "I don't understand!"

"I suppose I have a confession to make," he said, addressing her confused expression. "I already knew that five villages of my people had been killed by Freeza, and yes, it does grieve me terribly. On the other hand, I'm very happy to have learned that you and your friends are so willing to help us. You're a person of great bravery and kindness, Bulma. You mustn't feel guilty for the crimes that Freeza has committed, because they were not yours. In any event," he added, "I don't believe that Freeza has sent soldiers out to follow you here. I don't sense anyone approaching our direction from his compound. We're not in any more danger now than we were when Freeza landed."

"Are you certain?" she asked him. "I'm not really on Freeza's good list right now, and I'd be willing to bet that he'll do what he can to have me captured and killed - not to mention anyone who tries to assist me. I'd never forgive myself if I caused you and Nail to suffer because of my negligence."

"Well, don't worry," he told her kindly. "You must realize that if you were able to sense us, then Freeza must certainly be able to detect us with his scouters. It's all a matter of when and if he points them in our direction."

"Well, one thing's for certain," she sighed. "We can't let Freeza get the dragonballs. We can't let him make his wish, at any cost."

"Yes," Saichorou agreed. "I wouldn't think that it would be a good thing to allow Vegita to make his, either. Neither of them should ever be granted the opportunity to become immortal."

"Yes, but I just don't know how we can stop them!" Bulma said angrily. "It will take all of Kuririn, Gohan, Goku, and me to fight Vegita, just like it did on Earth, but then there's Freeza to contend with, and he's much stronger than Vegita. He's unimaginably powerful. I can't believe such a creature can exist in the universe."

"I can't make you as powerful as Freeza," Saichorou said slowly, "but maybe I can help even the odds a little bit. Here, let me put my hand on your head again."

"Are you going to read my mind again?" she asked him curiously.

"No, I wouldn't call it that," he replied, smiling. "Reading your chi would be more appropriate. Ah, yes, here we are..." Bulma felt a strange tingling sensation in her head, and she waited patiently to hear what he was going to do. "Goodness, child!" Saichorou exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what kind of power you have hidden deep inside you? To have so much untapped energy lying dormant in one person! It's simply astounding!"

"What are you talking about?" Bulma asked. "What power? Do you mean how I'm suppressing my chi? I've been doing that to hide from Freeza's scouters."

"No, that's not what I'm referring to at all! You have a great deal of undiscovered chi to be unlocked within yourself, Bulma! I will show you just how remarkable it is. Brace yourself, child. This is going to be a bit of a jarring surprise, I'm sure."

Bulma just gaped at him in disbelief, but all of the sudden a gargantuan surge of energy exploded inside her all at once, and she cried out in fear and confusion as the energy seeped out of every pore and gradually wrapped itself around her. More and more came to join it, from what could only have been described by Bulma as a void within herself that she had never known existed. She was gasping for breath and straining desperately to control the huge increase in her chi. It was incredible! It felt just like she was focusing her energy for an attack, except that this time she was fighting to contain the enormous boost, rather than release it herself. She was afraid that if she lost control, she'd explode.

After what seemed like an excruciating eternity, Saichorou withdrew his arm, and Bulma just stood there, panting heavily and gazing in wonder at her shaking hands. They were glowing with new energy and life, just as the rest of her had begun to do. Her chi aura had a taken on a slightly bluish tint, and it was much more clearly visible than it had ever been. She felt as light as a feather. She had leaped to a much higher level of strength and ability in only a few seconds. She just couldn't see how it was possible! How could she have had so much power hidden away inside her?

Bulma tried to guess how many times over her chi's intensity had increased, but she was too lightheaded and giddy to be sure. She looked up at Saichorou with an expression of confused ecstasy. How could such enormous, amazing power now belong to her all of the sudden? It didn't make sense. Saichorou chuckled as Bulma looked down at her glowing hands again to reassure herself that what she felt was indeed real.

"Your power has increased at least twenty times over," he said. "I dare say that Freeza will have an even tougher time of pinning you down now. I just can't believe that you had so much of your potential blocked away from yourself!"

"It's amazing," Bulma breathed excitedly. "I don't know what to say. How can I thank you enough for this?"

Saichorou smiled. "You may think of it as a reward for your efforts to save little Dende," he replied, "but to be honest, all I did was awaken that energy. It was there inside _you_. You only needed to find it, and all I did was show you the way."

Bulma just shook her head in disbelief. "I'd never have thought that such a thing was possible," she said. "I mean, I've never heard of a fighter's having hidden strength before – at least not on this kind of scale. I mean, it's one thing to have a sudden burst of energy you can't explain in times of desperation, but this! This is crazy!"

"Actually," Saichorou replied, "it's not uncommon to find hidden energy in people. In fact, I haven't met anyone yet who didn't. Of all of the people whose latent energy I have awakened, Nail was the one who came closest to having all his energy in check, but even he had a substantial amount undiscovered."

Bulma's face brightened even further as she suddenly thought of something. "Do you think that Gohan and Kuririn might have hidden powers too?" she exclaimed with bright eyes. "If I brought them here, could you do the same thing for them that you did for me?"

Saichorou thought for a moment. "I believe so," he said. "In fact, I'm almost sure of it. Unless they're in total control of their chi, they are almost bound to have hidden power. I'm certain that I could help them find it."

"Oh... but does it hurt you to do that?" she asked suddenly, realizing that she was being thoughtless. "I mean, I don't want to wear you out or anything. I hate to ask favors of you when you've already done so much for me."

"Not at all," he replied. "You may bring as many allies to me as you like, and it will not hurt me in the least."

"_Yes_!" Bulma whooped excitedly. "If they get a power-up like mine, then we won't even _need_ Goku to beat Vegita! But," she said suddenly, frowning as she remembered another technicality, "we still won't be able to defeat Freeza without him. Although I doubt we could defeat Freeza even with Goku, we still have to try, and he's our best chance."

"Do you feel that?" Nail interjected, derailing her train of thought. "I think someone's coming."

"Yes," Saichorou replied. "I sense them too."

"So do I," Bulma said, realizing that he was right. There were two chis out there - a weak one and a larger one.

"Wait a minute!" Bulma said excitedly, beaming happily as she recognized the chis. "That's Kuririn, and I believe he has Dende with him too!"

"You're right!" Nail said excitedly. "Saichorou, Dende's come back to us!"

"Thank goodness he escaped," Saichorou sighed heavily. "I only wish his brother Cargo and the rest of Muuri's village had shared his fate. It's a terrible thing for the poor lad to have witnessed, especially at his tender age."

"Damn that Freeza!" Bulma said, gritting her teeth. "It's not just your people that tyrant has slaughtered, either! Who knows how many countless worlds full of people he's destroyed? We just can't let him win!"

Saichorou put a hand on her shoulder. "Now, now. Calm down," he said soothingly. "Listen to me, Bulma. Don't let anger cloud your judgment. It's good of you to sympathize with us, but don't let anger force you to lose sight of your goal. Anger can become an even greater enemy to you than physical ones."

"You're right," she sighed. "I suppose I do get excessively mad sometimes. I'll just have to work harder to control my temper. But by Kami, it's hard for me to control my anger when I think of all that Freeza's done to you. And all over dragonballs! It's not right! He has to be punished!"

"We all have to face judgment sooner or later," Saichorou said. "He'll face his, just as you'll face yours. You're right; he must be stopped, but keep in mind that you'll need help. You can't do this on your own, child. You'll need all the help you can get to win, and it won't be an easy fight. Just know that we believe in you, and we know that you'll do your best. Don't worry about us; just focus on the task at hand, and know that you're doing what is right."

"Thank you," Bulma said, wiping away a couple of stray tears with an embarrassed laugh. "I promise that I'll give it my best shot, and I know my friends will too. We'll stop Freeza! Just wait and see!" she was all fired up now, and she glowed with a new resolve and confidence.

"That's better," Saichorou chuckled. "I know you will. Oh, I think we have more visitors outside. Nail, would you please go show them in?"

"Right," Nail said, nodding before he stepped onto the platform and went downstairs. Bulma grinned happily. She could sense Kuririn just outside. She couldn't wait to see him; it seemed almost as if she hadn't seen him for days. Hey, now that you mention it... She looked at the date on her watch. It _had_ been days - five days to be exact! She marveled at how fast the time had passed during her stay on Namek. Suddenly she gasped. She had forgotten to tell Kuririn that Goku was coming! She looked at her watch again. According to her father's initial calculations, Goku should be arriving on Namek after about seven more hours. She'd have to be sure to tell Kuririn that.

When Kuririn walked in and saw Bulma, he forgot everything else. "Bulma!" he exclaimed, rushing up to her and hugging her ferociously. "Thank Kami you're alive! We'd almost given up hope!"

"I'm... I'm so sorry I made you worry," she said, squeezing him back, and letting a few tears escape. "I can't wait to tell you everything that's happened, Kuririn! Things are so complicated!"

He stepped back all of a sudden and studied her with a confused look on his face. "Perhaps you could begin with how on Earth you got so powerful all of the sudden," he said. "How long have you been holding all this chi back, Bulma?"

Bulma had nearly forgotten about that in her excitement to see Kuririn. "Well," she began. "I can attribute that to Saichorou here. He said I had a lot of energy lying dormant inside of me, and then he just released it. I can't explain it, but somehow I had enough dormant chi energy to multiply my power twenty fold."

"Wow!" Kuririn said, grinning eagerly first at Bulma, then at Saichorou. "Do you realize what this means, Bulma?" he asked her gleefully. "You're powerful enough to take on Vegita! The last time I sensed his chi it was half what yours is now!"

"Are you sure?" Bulma gasped in disbelief. "That can't be right! I mean, there's no way I could ever be even equal to him, let alone more powerful! He's a Saiyan, for crying out loud!"

"No, I'm sure of it," Kuririn said, shaking his head. "I know you are, Bulma! I can sense it!"

"Well, even if that's so," Bulma said, "it's one thing to be on par with Vegita, but it's wholly another to take on Freeza. I've sensed him in close range before, Kuririn, and I know that he's way above me. Besides," she added, realizing all at once that she didn't like the way this conversation was going, "Vegita can't be defeated as easily as you might think. He's one tenacious jerk to squash."

"Well," Saichorou said, noticing that now would be an ideal time to interject. "Let me be the first to welcome you to my home, young warrior. I have learned much about you from Bulma, but I would like to get to know you better. Would you be so kind as to come stand beside me and allow me to place my hand on your head?"

Kuririn looked at Bulma with a puzzled expression on his face. She nodded at him with a reassuring wink. He did as the old Namek asked, and Bulma sighed happily. Soon Kuririn would be stronger too, and then they could go get Gohan.

As Saichorou probed Kuririn's memory, Bulma felt a light tug on one of the legs of her gi. She looked down to see Dende staring up at her.

"I want to thank you for what you did for me," he said. "Nail told me what happened after Kuririn, Gohan, and I left for the cave. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that."

Bulma smiled warmly at him. "Everything turned out all right in the end," she said. "Freeza made the mistake of putting me in a machine that completely healed all my injuries, and it gave me the ability to escape him without any trouble. Before I did, however, I got to learn a lot about him, so it definitely wasn't a wasted experience. I have you to thank for that, Dende." She knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. "You should know that my friends and I will do everything we possibly can to save you and the rest of the universe from Freeza. We're the ones making the conscious choice to put ourselves at risk for it. There's no need to apologize for what happened to me, because it wasn't your fault. All right?"

Dende smiled, and he gave her an enthusiastic nod. "I can still thank you, though, right?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sure," she laughed, patting him on the head. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to let my ego grow a little bit more. After all the nice things you guys have said to me today, I was already doomed to have a severely overinflated opinion of myself as it is!" She grinned at Nail, who was smiling at Dende. Both he and Saichorou must have been going through all manner of hell worrying about the other Nameks. Bringing Dende to them must have been one of the best things Kuririn could have done for them.

Suddenly Bulma heard a surprised cry from Kuririn, and she felt a steep rise in his chi. She turned to see him getting a boost from Saichorou, and was he ever amazed! Bulma wondered if her face had exhibited the same frightened look that was on Kuririn's now, as he experienced his own drastic increase in power. Finally, Saichorou removed his hand, and Kuririn looked at his hands in the same manner as Bulma had.

Bulma walked up alongside Kuririn and touched his shoulder. "How do you feel?" she asked him.

"It... it's unbelievable!" he exclaimed. "What a rush!"

"Thank you so much for your help, Saichorou," Bulma said, beaming happily at the large, benevolent Namek. "We have a much greater chance at staying ahead of Freeza, now that we're stronger. Don't worry; we'll do our best to keep him from making his wish."

"And Vegita too," Kuririn added. "We'll make sure that he doesn't get his wish either."

"Thank you both," Saichorou said, smiling happily. "I know you will. Here. This will help you on your quest. Take good care of it, and don't let it fall into evil hands." He took a huge orange orb from the top of his chair, and he handed it to Kuririn.

"You mean that enormous thing is a dragonball?!" Bulma exclaimed, looking at the large star inside it to confirm her assumption. "It must be at least seven times larger than the ones we have on Earth!"

"Well," Saichorou said, grinning at Bulma, "I am a bit larger than Kami, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, well, I uh... I guess you have a point!" Bulma stuttered, hoping that he hadn't though she'd implied he was fat or anything.

Saichorou chuckled. "Calm down, Bulma. You can say it. The simple fact is that I am very, very old. As we Nameks grow older, strange things happen to our bodies. Anyway, you should know as well as anyone that a person's true self can't be judged by appearance alone."

"Yes, that's very true," she mused, thinking of how she had underestimated so many fighters because of appearance.

"Now," Saichorou said, "I suggest you go get Gohan and bring him here. I may be able to release new power in him as well, and you'll want every advantage you can get."

"Right!" Bulma and Kuririn said in unison. They waved goodbye to Saichorou and Dende as Nail lowered the platform for them to see them out.

"Lead the way to the cave, Kuririn," Bulma said, once they were outside. "I have absolutely no idea where it is, and I'll tell you why on the way there."

Kuririn tucked the dragonball under his arm and they took off. Bulma began telling him about the events of the past few days as they sped away. It would take her the entire trip to tell him everything that had happened, along with what was going on with Goku.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Tricking Vegita**

"And that's about all the news I have," Bulma said, wrapping up her story as they approached the cave. "The next thing that happened was your arrival at Saichorou's place."

"Wow!" Kuririn said. "Amazing! So you got to see Freeza up close and personal, huh? I would have been too scared to speak!"

"I would have too, if I hadn't known ahead of time that I could get away from him whenever I wanted," she said in reply. "Believe me, Kuririn. We can't fool around with this guy. He means business."

"Heh. I wonder where we've heard something like that before," Kuririn teased her, elbowing her in the ribs. "It sounds so familiar for some reason!"

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed. "Okay, Kuririn, I deserved that. No more heroics for me."

Kuririn laughed, and then his expression hardened a little. "It's a good thing Goku's on his way. We'll need all the help we can get on this one, won't we?"

"We sure will. I hope we can keep things from getting too bad up here until he arrives."

They had finally reached the entrance to the cave, and they both landed just outside it. They smiled at each other as they dashed inside to find Gohan. It was time to share some good news for a change!

"Gohan!" Kuririn called out as they walked into the kitchen. "Come out, Gohan! It's me, Kuririn! And Bulma too!" There was no reply, and they could find no sign that Gohan had been there recently, either. They searched all over the small capsule house, but they couldn't find any trace of him anywhere.

"Where's Gohan?" Bulma asked Kuririn, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"I don't understand," Kuririn said, looking around the room in confusion. "He should have been back by now."

"Where was he going?" she asked.

"Well," Kuririn began, "before Dende and I left, Gohan said that he had located a dragonball on your radar. He said it wasn't too far away, so he'd go get it while I took Dende to Saichorou's. I agreed, since we need every dragonball we can find."

"Oh no!" Bulma exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "But Kuririn, that was one of Vegita's dragonballs! Remember? I told you that he had stolen one before he took Freeza's!"

Kuririn suddenly turned pale. "What if Vegita found Gohan?" he gasped. "That would explain why he hasn't come back yet, wouldn't it?"

Bulma gulped as images of all the terrible things Vegita could do to Gohan floated into her mind. It was too horrible to think about. All the signs seemed to point toward one thing: Gohan had been discovered by Vegita.

"I don't know, Kuririn," Bulma replied, her voice wavering slightly. "I can't for the life of me think of any other reason for Gohan's absence. You don't think Vegita," - she gulped - "_killed_ him, do you?"

Kuririn lowered his eyes sadly. "If Vegita found Gohan anywhere near his dragonball, I would say yes," he said slowly. "Vegita wouldn't take any chances. Besides," he added, "don't forget that back on Earth it was Gohan who finally defeated him in the first place. Vegita is probably still holding a grudge about that."

"Well, what if he didn't find Gohan near his dragonball?" she said hopefully. "I mean, that thing must be a good hundred miles from here. It's possible that Vegita just met him along the way. What then?"

"I don't know," Kuririn said. "Maybe he just injured him. Maybe he killed him anyway. Who knows? I can't pretend to understand Vegita, or any other Saiyan, for that matter. I mean, Goku's my best friend, and most of the time I don't even know what the hell's going on in his mind."

"Well, there is some hope that Gohan is still alive, right?" Bulma asked. "We can't give up hope on him yet."

"Right!" Kuririn agreed. "I think we should try to find out where he is, at least."

"Well," Bulma said, popping open her travel bag capsule and taking out her dragon radar. "I think we should see if that dragonball has moved at all before we do anything else. If it has, then we'll know that Gohan had it with him when Vegita found him." She put on the scouter and turned it on.

"Well," she said finally. "It looks like it hasn't moved from its original position, and it isn't moving now. I suppose Gohan didn't get that far."

"All right then," Kuririn said. "At least there's that. Now all we have to do is go look for him."

"Yeah," Bulma said anxiously, "but I can't sense any kind of chi over there, Kuririn. I don't think he's in that direction."

"He could be suppressing it," Kuririn muttered, "or he could be dead." He looked up. "Bulma, if Vegita found Gohan, and Gohan is still alive, then it's more likely that he's somewhere far away from his dragonball. The problem is finding out where."

"Well," Bulma said slowly, "if that's the case, then the only one who could tell us where he is would be Vegita."

"Exactly," Kuririn agreed, nodding. "To find out from him, we'd have to pay Vegita a little visit, wouldn't we?"

"Well, yeah," Bulma said, suddenly apprehensive, "but we won't do _that_, right? I mean, that'd just be stupid!"

"No," Kuririn said. "_We_ won't. What if Gohan manages to come back? One of us needs to be here just in case he does."

"But you do think that one of us ought to go question Vegita," Bulma continued, her spirits sinking.

"Yes," Kuririn said firmly. "I don't like it either, Bulma, but it's the fastest way I can think of to find out the location of Gohan."

"So...," Bulma continued, hesitating as she held onto a last glimmer of hope, "are you going to go?"

Kuririn looked at her intently. "Bulma," he said, "I think you should go. I'm not being cowardly here; it's just that you're stronger than I am now, and you may even be stronger than Vegita. If it came down to having to fight him, I think you'd stand a better chance. At the very least, you could use that technique of yours to escape. I wouldn't have that advantage, so unless I really defeated him, Vegita'd just follow me back here."

Bulma made no effort to disguise her displeasure. Even if she _had_ gotten stronger, she couldn't shake that same old fear that overcame her every time she thought of Vegita. She knew at the same time, however, that she was going to have to face him sooner or later, and besides, Gohan needed her help. She sighed dejectedly.

"If I'm going to get anywhere with Vegita, I'll have to threaten him, and that'll probably lead to a fight," she said unhappily. "I don't know, Kuririn. Do you really think I could win?"

"It's hard to say for sure," he replied, "but I know that the last time I sensed Vegita's power was when he was landing on Namek in his space pod. You were there. You remember how strong he felt then? Well, you're a lot stronger than that now, Bulma, and we both know that Vegita doesn't know how to mask chi. I'd say you stand a good chance of winning and an excellent chance of surviving if you end up having to fight him."

Bulma sighed. "All right," she said finally. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but okay; I'll go confront Vegita. I'm not happy about it, though! I'm going to have to be extremely careful."

"You do that," Kuririn said. "I know you'll do fine, Bulma. Just stay focused and be careful, and I know you'll win."

"I wish I had your confidence," she muttered. She floated up into the air and made sure of the direction she was going by zeroing in on the grouping of five dragonballs. Her heart sank as she sensed a weak chi out there. Whether it was Vegita or Gohan, she had no idea. "Goodbye, Kuririn," she said, gulping and waving briskly. "I'll be back soon."

"I know you will," he said, waving back. "Good luck!"

Bulma took a deep breath, and then she flew off in the direction of Vegita's five dragonballs. She wasn't exactly sure what she was getting herself into, but she was determined to see Gohan back safely, and she would even brave Vegita if it meant her only chance to do it.

- - - - -

As she came closer and closer to the weak chi that could be felt up ahead of her, Bulma decided after a lot of careful scrutiny that it was not Gohan out there. She thought it felt like Vegita, but it was so weak that he must have been seriously injured. Maybe he'd had a run-in with one of Freeza's cronies, and he'd gotten really mussed up. Still, this possibility did little to ease her mind, because she knew from firsthand experience that even a wounded Vegita was a dangerous Vegita. She wondered if he'd be even more dangerous injured, since he'd be able to take fewer chances.

When Bulma had only a few miles left to go, she stopped for a moment. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea to approach him in real time; she didn't want to let him hear her coming. She made a quick mental note of where the dragonballs were, and then she stopped time and continued onward. After a few minutes, she finally found Vegita and the dragonballs. They were in a narrow gorge that was almost invisible from above. She wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been for the flash of orange that shone off of one of the dragonballs. She flew down and landed lightly on the ground in front of Vegita. His eyes were open, and he was sitting on a dragonball, staring off in the direction from whence she had come.

Wait a minute... had he known she was coming after all? No, she thought to herself, that was silly. He didn't have a scouter with him, and he couldn't sense chi like she could, so there was no way. It must have been a coincidence.

Then there was the fact that he didn't look injured at all. Why on earth was his chi so weak? Was he just really tired? He didn't look like it, but maybe Saiyans didn't show fatigue as readily as humans.

Bulma wondered for a moment why he'd just been sitting here all this time instead of searching for the other dragonballs, but she decided it didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was Gohan.

She bent over and lifted Vegita up a couple of feet. As he hung suspended in the air, she took the dragonball he'd been sitting on in her hands and stepped back. She took a couple of deep breaths to steady her nerves, because she knew full well that this guy was going to be seriously pissed off when she let time flow again and he saw her with one of his dragonballs, and she wanted to be mentally able to handle it. Sighing, she decided that no number of deep breaths would ever fully set her mind at ease, and that now was as good a time as any to halt her teleport. She let time pick up where it left off, and she watched Vegita fall on his royal rear with a grunt. Bulma normally would have laughed at the amusing sight, but right now she wasn't exactly in a laughing mood.

He jumped up like a bull that had just been stung by a bee, looking around for the culprit who'd stripped him of his dignity. He noticed Bulma and stared at her in astonishment, appearing almost to have forgotten his anger for the moment.

"Where is Gohan?" she asked him coldly, glaring at him as fiercely and authoritatively as she could. "What have you done with him, Vegita?"

Vegita suddenly noticed that she had one of his dragonballs. He glared right back at her. "You'd better give that back to me," he threatened, taking a menacing step toward Bulma.

Undaunted, Bulma persisted. "Where is Gohan?" she asked again, cradling the dragonball under her left arm and placing her right fist on her hip. "I know you've done something to him. Where is he?"

Pretending suddenly that her having one of his dragonballs didn't bother him, Vegita turned away slightly and crossed his arms. "Oh, you mean Kakkarot's brat, don't you?" he said nonchalantly. "I haven't seen the whelp. I didn't even know he'd come with you to Namek."

"You're lying," Bulma growled, taking a step closer. "Gohan went after one of your dragonballs a while ago, and not only is it still in the same place, but he hasn't come back yet. That leads me to conclude that you're the reason he hasn't returned."

"You mean he was going after one of these?" Vegita asked, motioning towards the group of dragonballs a few feet away.

"No," she said, playing along with his little innocent bit. "He was going after your other dragonball - the one you stole from that Namek village you raided."

"How did you know about...?" he began, but he quickly cut himself short. "Feh," he said. "I haven't touched him. If I were you," he added, smirking at her, "I'd try looking in Freeza's ship. The dimwitted fool probably got himself captured. Speaking of which," he added, shooting her a sidelong glance and smirking, "I am curious to know how a person like you managed to escape from Freeza. I was certain you'd be a corpse by now."

"I'm flattered that you'd think of me," she cried in mock delight. "Well, it just so happens that Freeza has a nasty habit of underestimating his prisoners, I suppose. He made the mistake of leaving you unattended long enough to get away, and he didn't even consider me worth guarding at all. I'm sure we're a couple of mistakes he won't make again."

Vegita snorted. Much as he would have liked to criticize her again, even he couldn't argue with her assessment of Freeza's shortcomings. He couldn't help but have at least a grudging respect for the little vixen, even if she was a weakling.

"Now don't change the subject again," she continued, her voice exhibiting a much more serious tone. "I want you to tell me where Gohan is. He hasn't come back yet, and I seriously doubt he's been captured by Freeza. That just leaves you. Tell me where he is, Vegita!"

"I already told you," he said, looking thoroughly annoyed with her. "I haven't seen him. I'm not in the habit of repeating myself, woman. You're trying my patience!"

"Very well then," Bulma growled. "If that's how you're going to act, then you leave me with no alternative. If you don't tell me where Gohan is, then I'm going to teleport away each of your dragonballs, one by one, until you do tell me."

"Dammit, woman!" Vegita exclaimed, uncrossing his arms and turning around again. "Don't you dare threaten me! Do you realize I could kill you before you even uttered the first syllable?"

Bulma glared at him, held up the dragonball she had in her hands for him to see, then wordlessly teleported it away, all the way to the cave where Kuririn was. She wondered how surprised Kuririn would be to see a dragonball pop out of thin air just outside the cave entrance. "Do you realize that you're down to four now?" she said coldly.

Vegita stared in astonishment at her empty hands. The dragonball had been in them at one moment, and had simply vanished in the next. He looked up at Bulma's calm, yet unmistakably pale complexion, and he thoroughly lost his temper with her.

"Bring that dragonball back here right now, or you'll be tasting my fists!" he roared, assuming a fighting stance and charging his chi.

Bulma frowned. "Do you want me to send off another one?" she asked angrily. "I don't enjoy using such underhanded methods, but I'm not leaving until you tell me where Gohan is. You'd better cooperate, Vegita."

"Cooperate this!" he yelled, leaping at her and taking a swing at her face. Bulma had anticipated this, and she easily dodged him.

"Oh, by the way, Vegita," she said, not bothering to look at him as she stepped to the side and easily evaded his second blow, "I think I should warn you that I've greatly improved since our last encounter. You aren't fighting the weakling you fought back on earth."

"We'll see," he said, lunging for her again. Rather than dodging him a second time, she decided to take a more offensive approach. She ducked underneath his oncoming fist, and as he sailed over the top of her, she slammed an uppercut into his jaw. He sailed upward and did a somersault before landing neatly on his feet a few yards away from her. He shifted his jawbone around a bit with one hand, and then he spit some blood on the ground.

"My, my, my!" he said, grinning at her with an expression of genuine approval. "You _have_ improved! I understand now why you were so sure of yourself. It's quite a risk you're taking in challenging me. Unfortunately, you're nowhere near my level. I've toyed with you long enough. Allow me to show you what it's like to experience the real me!"

"Huh?" Bulma gasped in horror as she felt his chi skyrocket. He'd been holding back on her! Vegita lunged forward again, only this time he was much faster. He was so fast, in fact, that Bulma wasn't even able to see him. He disappeared in front of her just before he reached her, leaving an afterimage of himself in his wake. She waited tensely for a couple of seconds, trying to determine where he'd gone. Suddenly she felt a hand grip her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Boo!" he whispered playfully in her ear.

"Why, you!" she cried, spinning around out of his grip and punching at him. Unfortunately, she found herself punching through empty air. She'd lost him again. She gritted her teeth as she realized the bitter truth: he really was just toying with her. She also realized that this was a terrifically one-sided battle. He was far faster and stronger than she was, and there was absolutely no way she could ever win in a fair fight against him. Realizing that she had only one option, it was then that she made a critical mistake. She darted forward and grabbed one of his remaining four dragonballs. If she hadn't been in a state of panic, she would have stopped time first, but instead, she did it in the wrong order. She should never have touched his dragonball in real time.

"Rapid Tele..." she began, but she was suddenly cut off as Vegita kicked her violently in her right side. The dragonball went flying one way and she went flying in the opposite direction - head first into one of the rock walls of the gorge. She crashed squarely into the rock, sending large pieces of stone and dirt shooting out around her. Having immediately lost consciousness, she half-slid, half-rolled down the face of the rock wall to the ground - along with a sizeable amount of dust and pebbles. She lay in a crumpled heap on the ground and didn't move as the debris settled around and on top of her.

Vegita watched her motionless figure tensely for a few seconds, just in case she might get up and try to escape him again. She didn't move. He cautiously crept closer to her, trying to sense any chi that might flare involuntarily. She wasn't quite down to zero, but she was steady. Finally, he seemed fairly satisfied that she was in no position to get up and teleport away, so he walked over to check her pulse. It seemed a bit slow, but it was regular. He smirked a little as he realized that any normal Earthling would have been killed by such an impact. She might get a bump on her thick-skulled head, but she'd survive.

"Well, now what do I do with you?" he muttered to himself. He obviously couldn't keep her here; that teleportation trick of hers was a real nuisance, and it wouldn't be wise to keep her anywhere near his remaining dragonballs.

Of course, the easiest way to dispose of her would be to just kill her now. It would certainly save him a lot of hassle, but he just didn't find that option palatable. It wasn't as satisfying to kill an opponent while he was unconscious, and besides, this one was fun to antagonize. He saw no problem with letting her live to see his rise to power, as long as he could ensure that she didn't take his dragonballs. Additionally, she already had one of them, and right now she was his only link to getting it back. He wondered if it'd be possible to beat the location out of her. She was a stubborn one, but she was weak. Perhaps she could be intimidated.

He sighed angrily and looked down at her face. His eye suddenly caught something he hadn't noticed before: she was wearing a scouter. He took it off and looked at it. It was one of the older models, of the kind Raditz had preferred. He remembered how she had bragged about her knowledge of scouters back on Earth, and he figured that she must have taken it from Raditz after all. Still... what was she doing with it? Hadn't she claimed on Earth that she didn't need a scouter? Given that he was now also familiar with her and the other earthlings' ability to sense chi without one, it struck him as odd that she would be wearing Raditz' old scouter. Well, he might as well see if it still worked, at least. He still hadn't perfected his chi sense yet, and the scouter would be able to detect intruders much faster than he would at this point.

He put it on and pushed the little button on the side. The radar locked on to seven targets immediately, but each one had strange characters next to it. Not only was there that, but the target icons had also changed. Each one was round with a little star in the middle. He gasped as he wondered suddenly if those targets could be dragonballs. There were seven of them, after all. There were four in one group, two in another, and one by itself. Deciding to test his theory out, he pointed the scouter in the direction of the lake in which he'd hidden the other dragonball, and he found that the single target was then centered on the radar screen. An evil grin slowly spread across his face. The little minx had reprogrammed this thing to detect dragonballs! He had to hand it to her; she certainly was resourceful.

"Well," he thought to himself. "If that one is the one I hid in the lake, then these four must be the ones I have here. Which means," he added, turning until the group of two was in the center of the screen, "that the one she stole from me must be in that direction with this other one. Not for long!" he laughed as he realized how very easy she'd made things for him. He was about to take off in that direction, but he stopped suddenly as he remembered Bulma. He turned back around and studied her for a second. He couldn't leave her here. If she woke up, she'd most certainly make off with his dragonballs, and he couldn't have that.

Not knowing exactly what he should do about this new hindrance, he scowled and looked toward the direction of the two dragonballs again. It was then that he realized that he could sense a weak chi over there. She hadn't come to the planet alone; that much he knew for sure. At the very least she had brought that little brat of Kakkarot's along with her. Perhaps that chi belonged to him. Suddenly a new thought hit him. What if he was to take her there with him and trade her for those two dragonballs? Then he wouldn't have to bother with any resistance from that other earthling - which would make it less likely for Freeza to send his little flunkies out after him - and he'd have gotten rid of her in the process. The only problem was how he would keep her from following him again when she woke up. Hm... He wasn't sure, but he had to do something. Every minute that he had Freeza's dragonballs was another minute of the infernal bastard's fury building. It was never healthy to keep Freeza angry with you for long.

Vegita knelt down and somewhat roughly hoisted Bulma up onto his shoulder. He then took off toward the last two dragonballs and that weak chi that most certainly belonged to one of her companions. All his waiting during the past several hours had paid off. The remaining dragonballs had just fallen into his lap, thanks to his own personal delivery girl!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Bulma for the Balls**

Vegita washed some of the blood off of his hands in the nearby lake. The battle with Zarbon had been rather quick, and yet quite satisfying. It had been an ironically welcome sight - Zarbon's sudden appearance. Vegita had hardly been able to contain his excitement at the prospect of destroying that overdressed worm after what he'd done to him last time.

Zarbon had chased him down with a wild look of desperation in his eyes, demanding the return of the dragonballs. When he'd seen Bulma, he'd accused Vegita of colluding with the girl to overthrow Freeza. What a joke! If Vegita hadn't been so anxious to rip Zarbon to pieces, he might have laughed his head off.

Naturally, Vegita had only sneered and dared him to try and take the balls back to his master. As a result, Zarbon had transformed again, and they had fought it out – if one could have called that one-sided travesty a fight. It had only taken the first round of blows for Zarbon to realize what a fatal mistake he'd made in challenging Vegita a second time. By then, however, it had become far too late for regrets.

Vegita cracked a grin as he remembered Zarbon's expression of terror just before being blasted into the afterlife. It was about time someone had finally taken out that pompous pretty-boy, and Vegita particularly enjoyed the fact that he had been granted the privilege. He smirked, satisfied by the fact that he no longer had to look at that subservient weakling.

Now, back to old business. He trotted over to see if the Earth woman was still lying where he'd left her. Yes, she was still there. She still hadn't awakened yet, but he'd better hurry if he wanted to make the trade before she woke up. He still had a good ten minutes of flying left before he reached that chi out there - and those dragonballs.

He picked her up again, only a bit more gently this time, so as not to wake her. He cradled her between his arms and took off once again toward her companion and the two dragonballs. He wore an irritated scowl; he simply couldn't believe that he, the crowned prince of an entire race of superior beings, was reduced to carrying around this pathetic human female as if he were some kind of chauffeur. Well, no matter. Soon he would be immortal, and then he could take this and all the other frustrations he'd endured out on Freeza's hide. She would recognize his greatness by then too, and then she would certainly regret her impudence toward him. It was such a delightful thought that it spread a slow, evil smile across his face. What an appealing sight she'd make – groveling for mercy at his feet and regarding him with all the respect and awe that he deserved. He couldn't wait to see it.

After a while, Vegita could sense that he was very close. So close was he, in fact, that he knew he was within viewing distance of his goal. He surveyed the landscape below. It was pretty uniform in character, with one exception. Right down the middle was what appeared to be a small cave. Vegita studied it for a few moments. He had a feeling that someone was in there, but he couldn't sense anything. Whoever it was must have suppressed his chi, and Vegita knew that only he and the Earthlings could do that. Smirking triumphantly, he zoomed down to the ground and landed just twenty feet away from the entrance.

"I know you're in there!" he called out. "Come out with both your dragonballs and be quick about it, or I'll kill your little friend here!" He waited for a few seconds, and all the while he could just make out the shuffling of feet inside for a little bit, but soon there was nothing but dead silence.

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear," he yelled angrily. "I'm going to send her in to you piece by piece unless you bring me both your dragonballs now!"

"All right!" came an angry shout from inside the cave. "Don't hurt her! I'm coming out!" Kuririn stepped out of the shadows of the cave, carrying the two dragonballs and glaring at Vegita. He glanced anxiously at Bulma's limp body cradled in Vegita's arms, and then he glared at him again. "What have you done to Bulma?" he growled angrily.

"Nothing," Vegita icily replied, "compared to what I'll do to her if you don't hand over those dragonballs this instant!"

Kuririn looked angrily down at the dragonballs. He didn't seem to know what to do.

Meanwhile, Bulma was just beginning to return to her senses. She could hear loud voices off somewhere, but they seemed very far away. Then she felt the discomforting sensation of pain - a dull pulse at first, which quickly became a throbbing jackhammer beating inside her head. She struggled to open her eyes. Where in the world was she, and what was with all that yelling? She blinked in the bright light, trying to bring into focus the blurry shadow looming over her. She suddenly heard Vegita's voice boom loudly in her ears.

"Perhaps you aren't taking me seriously!" he yelled. "Are you so eager to see her pretty head get smashed like a melon? Hand over the balls or she dies!"

Bulma's eyes opened wide and things suddenly came into focus. She could see Vegita's angry face above her, staring straight ahead, and she felt his grip tighten around her shoulders and her knees. A sickening mixture of terror and unadulterated rage began churning deep within her, and her face began to flush as the violent surge of emotion threatened to boil over. That horrendous beast! Vegita was using her to pressure Kuririn into giving up their dragonballs!

"You slime!" she screeched, struggling violently to wrench herself free from his grasp. "How dare you? Let me go or I'll claw your eyes out!" Her hands flew to his face as she let out a scream of fury, and it was all he could do to keep from dropping her in his surprise.

Despite the painful scratches that she managed to administer to his face, Vegita was very quick about regaining control of her. With movements so fast they made her dizzy, he flipped her around onto her feet and seized her arms, wrenching them behind her back and holding her upright in front of him. After she had recovered from the disorienting experience, she began savagely kicking backwards at him, trying to make him lose his balance and let go of her arms – all as she yowled and screeched at him like a wildcat.

"Dammit, woman!" Vegita yelled. "Hold still or I'll really give you something to scream about!"

By now Bulma was too far-gone into the realm of hysterics to respond positively to such threats. The mere sound of his frustrated voice only drove her further into her enraged frenzy. She was not going to let him get their dragonballs at any cost!

"Go to Hell!" she hollered at him as she lurched forward and brought her feet back against what she assumed was his pelvic region. She shoved against him as hard as he could, and he began to growl in mounting frustration and anger.

"Please, Bulma!" Kuririn pleaded, horrified by the dangerous risk she was taking. "Do what he says! You're only making him angry!"

"Kuririn!" Bulma yelled. "If you want to see real anger, then just take a look at me! There's no way in hell he can be angrier than I am right now!" As Vegita let go of her arms with one of his hands – so as to shove her feet off of him – she managed to wrench an arm free of his grip. That was all she had needed. She quickly spun around beside him and landed an open-palmed strike on the side of his face. She had been hoping that he'd drop his hold on her other arm, but she had been mistaken. Vegita had finally lost all his patience with Bulma.

"I have had enough!" he roared. He jerked Bulma's feet off the ground with one sweep of his leg and used her arm as the pivot point to shove her face-first into the ground. Before she could get back up, he violently slammed his foot down on the middle of her back and held it there. It hadn't been enough to break anything, but it had knocked all the wind out of her, and it had seriously hurt.

"Damn you!" she gasped, squirming and pushing as hard as she could. But, try as she might, this was one push-up that she was not going to be able to do.

Vegita pushed harder, sneering with satisfaction at the cries of fury and pain this produced. "Now hold still and behave yourself!" he ordered. He looked back up at Kuririn, who had only been able to helplessly watch Bulma's violent attempts at freedom. "The dragonballs!" Vegita demanded, aiming an outstretched hand at Bulma's head and charging his chi for a blast. "Don't think I won't kill her, baldy! I've had about as much of this infuriating female as I can stand!"

"Kuririn!" Bulma gasped, trying to draw in enough breath to speak loudly. "Don't you dare! You know damn well that he already has the other five!"

Vegita stomped on her again. "Silence!" he barked. "He doesn't need your help with his decision!"

Bulma ignored him and glared at Kuririn. "Who would you rather have to deal with?" she rasped angrily at him. "Vegita or me?" Kuririn gulped, not sure how he'd answer that one.

"If you don't shut up, he'll be dealing with a corpse!" Vegita snarled, throwing even more weight into his leg.

Bulma would have screamed at the pain this gave her, but she had no air in her lungs. She couldn't breathe with him pressing down on her like that. She struggled frantically against his leg, but her movements were quickly becoming sluggish. She had to get some air in her lungs!

Kuririn couldn't take anymore. "All right!" he cried. "All right! Take 'em! Just get offa Bulma!" He tossed the dragonballs to Vegita, one at a time, while Bulma shook her head and pounded her fist into the dirt.

Vegita neatly caught the dragonballs in each hand and gazed down at them with a spark of glee in his eyes. He laughed in amusement as he stepped back away from Bulma and watched her try to get up and attack him, only to fall back, gasping and coughing violently. Kuririn rushed to her side and helped her sit upright, and she glared angrily at Vegita. Suddenly she gasped in surprise as she noticed that he was wearing her scouter. A horrified expression spread across her face as it dawned on her that it was because of her scouter that he had found this place.

Vegita must have realized what she was gaping at. "Oh yes," he said, bracing the dragonballs under one arm as he took the scouter off his ear. "I nearly forgot. Thank you very much for letting me borrow this," he laughed, his eyes flashing at her in triumph. "I never would have discovered your little hiding place without it. Now that I have all the dragonballs, I don't need it anymore. So, to show you what a generous soon-to-be god that I am, I'll return it to you." He laughed sadistically as he crunched it in his fist and dropped the pieces at Bulma's feet. Ignoring her angry screams and epithets, he immediately took off and rocketed away so quickly that he was out of sight in seconds.

Bulma felt like crying. Now Vegita had all of the dragonballs, and it was only a matter of time before he got his wish. She buried her face in her hands and let out a howl of anguish.

"I'm sorry, Bulma," Kuririn sighed. "There was nothing else I could do. I wouldn't have gotten far even if I had tried to get away, and you would have been killed anyway. At least this way we can live."

"Yes, but for how long?" she laughed angrily. "Once Vegita becomes immortal he'll just do away with us anyway, along with everyone else who's ever crossed him - which includes Earth," she added, raising her head and scowling. "It's highly likely that he'll go back to Earth to look for Goku, and when he gets there and doesn't find him, he'll just destroy the planet."

"I know," Kuririn said, shaking his head in disgust, "but there was no other possibility. Either way we were going to die, and he was going to get the dragonballs from me. It's human nature to try to survive for as long as possible, so I went this way with it. At least this way we'll be able to live a little bit longer."

Bulma sighed. "I know," she said, "and I don't blame you for any of this, Kuririn. I just keep thinking that there must have been something I could have done to prevent this. If only I hadn't been wearing that scouter when I met him! Damn!" She got up to dust herself off, but she nearly fell over again as she was struck by a debilitating dizzy spell.

"Whoa!" Kuririn exclaimed, holding her steady. "You gonna be all right, Bulma?"

"Don't be silly," she said, ashamed of her weakness. "I'm just a little dizzy; that's all. I got a nasty blow on the head out there, and it certainly didn't help to have Vegita stomping all the air out of me after I'd come to."

"So Vegita was stronger than we thought," Kuririn muttered, shaking his head. "It's a terrible shame that I underestimated him like that. I just don't understand it! How could I have been so wrong?"

"Well, I don't know how he got so much stronger to begin with," Bulma replied, "but I do know one thing for certain. Vegita can mask his chi. He must have learned how on Earth, I guess, but I do know from fighting him that he can do it. I underestimated him just as much as you did, and I never had a chance."

"You're kidding," Kuririn said with a frustrated gasp. Bulma shook her head. "Man, that's just great! Well, what should we do now? You think we should go tell Saichorou that we've failed?"

Bulma thought about that for a moment. Should they? It wouldn't be very fair of them to give the Nameks false hope, but she hated to have to tell them such terrible news.

She was still wondering if there was any way to get out of becoming the bearers of such terrible news when she felt the twinge of approaching chi. She turned to face its direction. Was Vegita coming back already?

"Kuririn," she said, pointing in the direction of the unknown presence. "Do you sense that?" He turned to study it, but before he could reply, Bulma suddenly realized who it was.

"Can it be?" she exclaimed. "Could that be Gohan?"

Kuririn studied the chi intensely for a few moments. Suddenly his expression became one of supreme elation, and he beamed back at Bulma. "By Kami, you're right!" he exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what this could mean?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Gohan may have gotten that dragonball after all!"

"Yeah," Kuririn breathed excitedly. "Still," he added, adopting a more serious expression. "We can't allow ourselves to get too hopeful. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

They waited impatiently as he drew ever closer to them. Finally they saw him - a small speck on the horizon, growing in size as he approached. Bulma strained her eyes to see if he had a dragonball with him. Before long, she could discern separate features, and she discovered - much to her delight and relief - that he was carrying one of the large, orange orbs!

Gohan beamed proudly as he landed in front of them, holding his prize up for his friends to see. Kuririn and Bulma cheered and clapped, causing him to blush and laugh happily.

"I'm glad to see you're back," he said to Bulma, setting down the dragonball to give her a hug. "Kuririn and I didn't know what to think when you didn't come back from holding off Dodoria."

"Yeah," Kuririn agreed. "But Gohan, Bulma and I were worried sick about you too. What took you so long to get back here?"

"Well," Gohan began. "I eventually found this dragonball in the bottom of a lake, but the lake was at the edge of a Namek village, or at least what used to be one before someone ransacked it and killed all the Nameks. There were dead bodies all over the place, and I didn't think it was right to just leave them there on the ground like that. I dug graves for them and gave them all proper burials. It was so sad, guys. There were so many of them, and there were kids too, all dead. I couldn't believe it. It had to be Freeza. Who else would kill all those people just for a dragonball?"

"Vegita," Kuririn and Bulma said in unison.

"Well, yeah, I guess he would too," Gohan said, thinking for a moment. "I forgot about him."

"Well, he did," Bulma said. "That dragonball you have there is the one that he ransacked that Namek village for. I had no idea that he'd hide it so close to the village he got it from, though."

"How do you know that Vegita hid this one?" Gohan asked her.

"I'll tell you later," she replied. "That's unimportant right now; what's more important is that Vegita is going to come here when he finds out he's missing a dragonball. Which means," she said, addressing Kuririn, "that we've got to pack up and get out of here before he gets here."

"I agree," Kuririn said, nodding. "Where should we go?"

"I think we should go to Saichorou's," she said, patting Gohan on the head. "We still have to take this one to see him anyway, so we might as well at least stop by there."

"Good thinking," Kuririn said. "It certainly wouldn't hurt."

"I'll be right back," Bulma said. "I've just got to get my capsule house out of the cave and I'll be ready to go."

"We'll wait for you," Kuririn said, and she turned and ran into the cave.

"What the heck are you guys talking about?" Gohan asked Kuririn. "How would Vegita know to come here, and why do I need to see Saichorou?"

"We'll tell you on the way there," Bulma replied as she came out of the cave, slipping the house capsule into the case. "Hey Gohan," she said, as she noticed her broken scouter on the ground. "Do you still have my dragon radar?"

"Uh-huh," he replied, taking it out of his pocket. "Do you want it back now?"

"Yeah," she said. "I did manage to turn Raditz's scouter into one, but Vegita broke it. Do you mind if I keep this one now?"

"No, I don't mind," he said, smiling as he handed it to her. "We're all together now anyway, so it won't make any difference who keeps it."

"Thank you," she said. She put it in her travel bag, then recapsulized it and put it in the capsule case.

"Well, I'm ready to go," Gohan said, picking up the dragonball and smiling at his comrades.

"Me too," Kuririn said.

"So am I," Bulma added, snapping her boot flap closed. "Let's go!"

They took off for Saichorou's house, and Bulma and Kuririn began telling Gohan about the incredible events that had taken place in his absence. As he listened in disbelief to what they had to tell him, he began to think that he'd gotten the most unexciting job out of all of them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: A Common Enemy**

It took Bulma and Kuririn nearly all of the trip to fill Gohan in on what had taken place during the past few days - everything from Bulma's disappearance to Gohan's arrival back at the cave. They were nearly to Saichorou's house, and they were flying at a breakneck pace. Time was of the essence!

"So, do you really think that this Saichorou can awaken hidden chi in me?" Gohan asked. "I mean, Piccolo-san taught me how to fight, and he may have already caused me to find all of my dormant energy."

"You'd be surprised," Kuririn commented, reflecting on his and Bulma's experiences with the wise old Namek. "Bulma and I have improved incredibly. True, we aren't as strong as Vegita, but you might help us tip the scales in our favor. I think it's highly possible that you could get a big boost too, Gohan."

"I hope so," he said. "We'll need it if we're gonna take on Vegita."

"One thing's for sure," Bulma said quietly. "We're going to need Goku's help to win against Freeza. I don't know about this one, guys. Even Goku's liable to have trouble with him."

They could see Saichorou's house on the pillar up ahead. They were nearly there! Suddenly Bulma felt a huge rush of chi bombard her senses all at once, and she gasped. Kuririn was about to ask her about the terrified expression on her face, but he also detected the sudden cause of this new anxiety, and he called for them to stop.

"Kuririn!" Bulma shrieked, beginning to panic. "It's Vegita! He's already after us! What are we gonna do?" She was trembling violently, and her eyes were wide with fear.

"I know," Kuririn replied gravely, gritting his teeth and glancing over his shoulder in frustration. He let out a heavy sigh. "Bulma," he said. "Take Gohan and the dragonball to Saichorou's. I'll hold Vegita off for as long as I can while you go. Now listen!" he commanded, seeing that she was about to protest. "You have the dragonball, the dragon radar, and the knowledge required to build and repair a space ship. Right now you're our best shot at getting home, and I can't let you fight Vegita again and risk all that. Now get outta here, already! He's almost here!"

"Come on; he's right!" Gohan cried, pulling Bulma away. "I don't like it either, Bulma, but we have to trust Kuririn here."

Unwillingly, Bulma finally relented. "You be careful, Kuririn!" she called out as they sped away. "Don't you dare get killed!"

As they left him, Kuririn turned around to face Vegita. He gritted his teeth nervously. This wasn't going to be easy; he knew Vegita wasn't likely to take him seriously if he couldn't stop his knees from wobbling.

Bulma and Gohan raced for Saichorou's house. Within seconds they were at the door, and Nail was right there waiting for them.

"Piccolo-san?" Gohan gasped.

"Nail!" Bulma cried breathlessly. "This time you and Saichorou really are in danger! I'm afraid we've led Vegita right to you!"

"Saichorou and I could sense that you were being followed," he said, nodding. Don't panic. Just send the boy in with the dragonball and come back out here to guard the entrance with me."

Bulma nodded and grabbed Gohan's hand. "Come on!" she exclaimed. She and Gohan ran inside onto the platform. Dende was already there waiting for them.

"I'll take Gohan to Saichorou," he said. "I've got it covered, Bulma. You go help Nail!"

"Thank you, Dende," Bulma said, waving at him and turning to go out the door. "Say hi to him for me!"

"I've got to get out there to help Kuririn!" she exclaimed as she ran out to Nail's side. "He can't hold Vegita off for long by himself."

"It's a little late for that," Nail said quietly. He was staring at the angry stranger who was rapidly approaching them.

"Huh?" Bulma gasped, as she saw the oncoming Saiyan. "Oh, Kami!" she groaned. "Where's Kuririn? Is he...?" she couldn't bring herself to finish. Suddenly she saw the white outline of Kuririn's ki trail appear behind Vegita, and with it came one of the most furious expressions she'd ever witnessed on little monk's face. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Bulma braced herself as Vegita landed on the grass in front of her and Nail. Kuririn flew over the top of him and landed beside Bulma.

"I'm sorry," he panted. "He just broke away. He could sense you guys over here."

"That's right," Vegita said, scowling. "And I'm willing to bet that you have my dragonball hidden around here somewhere too."

"Since when have you needed to make up an excuse to harass us?" Bulma snapped at him. "You took the only dragonballs we had, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Vegita replied. He was grinning at her, but his eyebrow was twitching involuntarily in his building fury. "I also remember that you knew about my other one; the one that I killed all those _Nameks_ for." He looked at Nail tauntingly as he placed emphasis on the word "Nameks." "Well, that one has turned up missing, so I naturally thought of you."

Bulma glared at him. "I didn't take that dragonball," she said. "Don't take it out on us if you can't keep up with your belongings, Vegita. Maybe Freeza got a hold of it. Try asking him!"

"Oh, I know _you_ didn't take it," Vegita chuckled at her. "After our last encounter, I had a feeling you wouldn't be so anxious to test my patience. I saw the way you trembled when I stopped letting you think you were winning."

He shot her a wicked sneer, and for once, Bulma didn't play into his taunting. She was deadly serious, and she was more than just a little nervous about the dangerous man's proximity to Saichorou and Dende. "You want me to grovel or something?" she growled at him. "So what? That just proves my point. I didn't take your dragonball, so you can just turn your tailless butt around and leave us alone. We have nothing for you here."

"Do you really think I'm such a fool?" he laughed, folding his arms and glaring at her through his smirk. "You and the pipsqueak here aren't the only ones who followed me to Namek, are you? You yourself gave me that little gem of information when you popped up earlier and demanded that I produce Kakkorot's brat out of thin air. Remember? That pint-sized half-breed you call Gohan?" He grinned triumphantly as she and Kuririn both flinched. "The answer is obvious! The brat stole the ball while I was busy with you two, and now you think you can hide it here. You can stop pretending to know nothing about it. I'll grant you amnesty if you just hand it over quietly. I promise that when I gain immortality I won't kill you."

"Sure you will," Bulma laughed sardonically, rolling her eyes. "And I suppose you'll have me believe next that Freeza is actually your father."

Vegita gave a start, and then he bristled in anger. "How dare you make such a vile suggestion!" he snarled at her.

Bulma shot him a challenging sneer. At least she'd shaken him up a little. Suddenly she sensed an enormous jolt of chi in Saichorou's house. Gohan had gotten his boost, and in the brief moment that his chi remained unsuppressed, Bulma easily sensed that he was far stronger than she was. She doubted that he rivaled Vegita yet, but he would be a welcome addition to the team any day!

Vegita looked up at Saichorou's house with a very puzzled expression. "Who's in there?" he demanded. "Kakkorot? Here?"

Suddenly Gohan stepped out, and he was glaring at Vegita. He had masked his chi again, but one could easily see that he was much more sure of himself. Much to Bulma's dismay, however, he was also holding the dragonball.

"Well, well, well," Vegita said. "If it isn't the mighty misfit. I suppose you're the one they're guarding, aren't you? Well kid, just give me the dragonball and I won't kill you or your friends. Please, though; feel free to make my victory even sweeter and refuse!"

"Gohan!" Bulma shrieked. "Why the hell did you bring that thing out here? Now he knows right where it is!"

"I'm sorry," Gohan said, not removing his gaze from Vegita. "But I don't want to get these guys involved in this. You know Vegita would just drag them into it."

"That's very noble of you, Gohan," Nail said calmly, "But if this man is a threat to my people, then I _am_ involved."

Vegita sneered. "I have yet to meet a Namek that had any sense. Don't worry, green bean. It's not your people I'm after; I only want the dragonballs."

"And I suppose you felt it necessary to kill an entire village of my people for one dragonball?" Nail asked him quietly.

Vegita snorted. "Everyone who gets in my way meets the same fate," he said nonchalantly. "They had to find that out the hard way, and I'm beginning to think that you four want to do the same."

Before anyone could say anything else, Dende suddenly burst out of Saichorou's house with a wild look on his face. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Saichorou says he senses a lot of very strong chi coming toward the planet!"

Nail looked up toward the sky. "He's right," he said. "I sense it now too. There's more than one of them up there."

Everyone looked up to check, even Vegita – although he was rather impatient as it was. Bulma sensed a strange, incredible source of chi up there. Was it possible that it could be Goku? No, Nail was right. There was definitely more than one. "I think there are four different ones," she said, squinting at the sky and straining her chi sense. "I can't be sure, though. It might be five if one of them's really weak, or it might just be four."

"No..." Vegita said through gritted teeth. "It can't be... _them_. Not Team Ginyu. Damn you, Freeza!"

He lunged for the dragonball, but Nail darted out in front of Gohan, blocking his path and baring his teeth at him. Bulma and Kuririn took their places on either side of Nail, while Gohan fidgeted angrily, as he didn't like being the protectee rather than the protector.

"Don't you see?" Vegita yelled. "We aren't dealing with weaklings like Dodoria and Zarbon anymore, you idiots! Freeza has called down his most elite team of fighters to retrieve the dragonballs for him, and if we don't make a wish now, we'll never even get the chance!"

"Oh, and I suppose they have the mighty prince of the Saiyans scared?" Bulma said skeptically. "Enough with the lame acting, Vegita."

Vegita gritted his teeth and snarled at her. "Imagine five fighters, each at least as strong as I am, and all of them working together against you. Now you tell me, little fool: does the thought of it frighten _you_?"

Bulma visibly flinched. His words had certainly struck a chord.

"There's only one way to keep Freeza from winning," Vegita said, "and that's to make me immortal. You have no idea just how powerful Freeza really is. Team Ginyu is nothing compared to him, and we're presently not enough to take on even them. It should be painfully obvious even to you fools that at least one of us needs to get a lot stronger immediately, or Freeza will get his way."

"Maybe so, but why should we make _you_ immortal?" Kuririn demanded. "Why not give the gift to Gohan?"

"Don't be an imbecile!" Vegita yelled in frustration. "The brat might have enough power eventually, but he doesn't have the experience he needs yet to finish Freeza off. You three don't have any idea what Freeza is capable of. He'll have destroyed everything you hold dear long before you catch up to him. It'll take someone with a lot of fighting experience and power - not to mention someone who's familiar with Freeza's habits - to kill him before he kills the rest of you. None of you has that ability, but I do."

"Maybe you have a point," Bulma said, clenching her fists, "but I'll be damned if I'll waste our only wish on making a sadistic, self-satisfied jerk like you unkillable!"

"You act as though you have a choice in the matter!" Vegita yelled. "Let's not forget that I have six of the dragonballs! You only have one – a mistake which I intend to rectify immediately!"

"Whoa! Hold it!" Nail interjected. "You two do realize that Porunga grants three wishes, right?"

"What?" Bulma said. "Three wishes? You mean that your dragon doesn't just grant one wish each time the dragonballs are brought together?"

"That's right," Nail replied. "Each time Porunga is called forth, he grants the first three wishes uttered by the people present. No more, and no less."

"Well then," Vegita said, smiling triumphantly. "I'll make a deal with you. We'll combine our efforts in this. First we'll wish me immortal, then you have my permission to do whatever you like with the other two wishes. How does that sound?"

"And just how do we know you won't kill the dragon or destroy the dragonballs once you achieve immortality?" Kuririn asked skeptically.

"Listen!" Vegita roared. "I'm being more generous with you fools that you deserve! Considering the fact that if you don't agree, I'll kill you all and take the ball by force, I really don't think that you are in a position to be choosy!"

"Well, whatever you do," Nail said, looking up, "you might want to consider doing it now. The planet has just received more visitors."

They all looked up and watched five space pods streak across the sky, one after the other. Bulma gasped. The chi power coming from those things was enormous.

"Nail's right," Kuririn said. "I say we at least call the dragon, and fast. I'm afraid our only way out of this will be the make Vegita immortal, and if we're going to do anything, we'd better do it now."

Bulma sighed. "I guess I have to agree," she admitted, "but I don't like it."

Gohan looked down at the dragonball. "Piccolo-san," he whispered anxiously. He looked up. "I'm in," he said.

"Then move!" Vegita demanded. "We're running out of time!"

"I must stay here with Saichorou," Nail said, "but I wish you all the best of luck."

"Thanks, Nail," Bulma said, waving goodbye. "We'll stop Freeza; don't worry!"

Vegita, Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan shot off to unite Vegita's dragonballs with the other one. If they wanted to win the race against time, they were going to have to really move!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Team Ginyu Makes an Entrance**

Bulma and her friends were flying a few yards behind Vegita, allowing him to lead them to his stash of dragonballs. As they sped towards Vegita's hiding place, it was easy to see everyone was on edge.

"Can't you fools fly any faster?" Vegita yelled at them angrily. "At this speed, we'll never get there in time!"

Kuririn flew up alongside Bulma and leaned in next to her ear. "Can't you teleport us there, Bulma?" he whispered urgently. "Times like these are when your technique usually comes in handy, right?"

"I think so," she whispered back. "The distance between here and Vegita's stash is a lot smaller than it was between our cave and there. I'll have to make a couple trips to get us all, but I can do it."

"Whatever you're planning back there, you can forget it right now!" Vegita snarled at them. "If you even think of double-crossing me, I'll kill you long before you get a chance to make a wish. On that you have my word!"

"We're not far now," she told Kuririn after shooting Vegita an angry glare. "I think we'll be okay if we just fly there. I'd rather not have to touch that creep unnecessarily anyway, and if I didn't take him with us, he'd just throw a tantrum and kill us all."

Bulma and Kuririn exchanged looks. What were they going to do? Once Vegita was immortal, he'd be unstoppable, and everything they'd worked for would be in vain. All at once, a bolt of inspiration struck Bulma, and her expression brightened dramatically.

"Kuririn," she whispered. "I figure that Vegita's got a point about our making him immortal. I mean, when it comes right down to it, he's the only one who can get rid of Freeza for us. It'd be all but impossible for Goku to have surpassed Freeza yet, and besides, we don't even know exactly when he'll be here anyway. I say we go ahead and rely on Vegita as far as Freeza is concerned."

"Some idea!" Kuririn said in disgust. "I'm not ready to admit defeat yet, Bulma!"

"You didn't let me finish," she chuckled softly, winking at him. "Sure we'll make him immortal, but not indefinitely. What say we use the second wish to put a curfew on ol' Veggie's immortality? Say, oh... three hours, for example. That should be plenty of time for him to kill Freeza, don't you think?"

"I get it!" Kuririn whispered excitedly. "We just tell the dragon to make Vegita immortal for only three hours, right? He'll take care of Freeza, and we can use the third wish to wish our friends back!"

"Right!" Bulma said, beaming triumphantly. She couldn't help thinking that it ought to be a sin to be so smart.

"It'll work! Way to go, Bulma!" Kuririn was beaming at her, and it was remarkable to see, considering how crestfallen he'd looked only a minute or so ago.

"The only hitch is getting Vegita to actually let us _make_ our wishes," she chuckled wryly. "I don't think we should get our hopes up just yet, because I kind of doubt he'll feel that generous, even if we do make him immortal."

"Well, it's worth a shot, anyway," Kuririn sighed. "I'm all for it, Bulma. Let's just hope for the best!"

"We don't have long to hope," she said, pointing to a cracked mound below, "because there's where Vegita's got his dragonballs!"

Vegita glanced back at them, pointing down, and then zoomed down into the ravine.

"Tell Gohan the new gameplan," Bulma said, "and then you two bring the dragonball and follow us down there. Don't take more than a few seconds to tell him. I don't want Vegita getting suspicious."

"Right," Kuririn said, nodding. "We'll be right down, Bulma."

She nodded back at him and then flew down after Vegita. He was standing in front of his six dragonballs with his arms crossed, scowling for all he was worth.

"What is taking you so long?" Vegita demanded. "You don't seem to realize how little time we have left!"

"Calm down," she said soberly. "My friends and I have talked it over, and we've decided that we'd much rather have you immortal than Freeza. And besides, as foul as the words taste in my mouth, I can't deny that you're the only chance we have at defeating him. Since you need to have your wish granted for that to happen, we have no more objections to your demands. Very well, Vegita. We'll use the first wish to give you immortality, and the other two my friends and I will use."

"And here I was thinking that you Earthlings didn't have any sense!" Vegita said, smirking. "You have a deal, Earth woman!"

Bulma glared angrily at him. "For Kami's sake, Vegita!" She snapped. "I have a name, you know! I took the time to learn yours; the least you could do is use mine! Call me Bulma! Got that? Bul-_ma_!"

"Feh," he snorted. "I only use names when they apply to worthy adversaries. You're anything but, weakling. If you dare speak to me in such an insolent manner again, I'll be sure to find a creative and painful way to teach you some respect for your betters."

Bulma ignored him. "Finally!" she called out, waving Gohan and Kuririn down to them. "Bring that thing down here quick! We'd better get these wishes made as fast as we can, before Freeza picks us up on his scouters!"

"We're ready, Bulma," Kuririn said as he and Gohan landed in front of them. "Let's call the dragon."

Suddenly Vegita gasped, and he looked up in the air behind Kuririn and Gohan. "No!" he exclaimed. "Team Ginyu! Damn you three, we're too late!"

They spun around to see five armored fighters of various sizes, shapes, and colors land behind them. Bulma realized in horror that they'd been too careless. They'd let their guard down long enough for this "Team Ginyu" to sneak up on them. She and the others quickly backed up to either side of Vegita so that they could help him shield the dragonballs from their enemies.

"What should we do?" Bulma muttered quietly, eying each of her opponents and sizing them up. "These guys are stronger than I expected; I don't think we can win, even with you fighting with us, Vegita."

Vegita just remained silent, glaring contemptuously at Team Ginyu. The large, purple one in the center smiled and shook his head.

"Poor little Veggie-chan," he chuckled at him. "You thought you'd enlist some help against us, eh? I never figured you for much of a team player. Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but all your efforts have been in vain. It's game over for you and your little buddies, Veggie-chan."

The others snickered behind him and watched Vegita for his reaction. They seemed to really appreciate the big one's nickname for Vegita.

Vegita bared his teeth and snarled. He didn't look very happy, but at least he didn't seem very afraid. Then again, it was unlike him to show fear at a time like this anyway, Bulma thought with a wry grin.

The one who'd been speaking to Vegita, a fair-sized purple being with horns similar to Freeza's, seemed to be the most powerful one of the group, but only moderately so. The next one down was probably the large blue one, and right after him was the short orange one with the long, white hair. He was glancing in Bulma's direction and laughing quietly with the next one down, a large, rather human-looking giant of a man with a shock of shaggy, orange hair. They all were much stronger than she was, with the apparent exception of the last one. Last came the squat, green alien with four eyes. He was very rotund, and he seemed as weak as a kitten when compared to Vegita. Bulma had no idea what he could be doing with such an elite team of fighters. Perhaps there was more to him than met the eye.

"Now then," the purple one announced, "it's time we retrieve these dragonballs that Lord Freeza wants so much. We'd like to thank you for collecting them for us, Vegita. It's just too bad that you won't be around to witness Freeza's glorious reign once he achieves immortality."

"We aren't just going to hand these dragonballs over to Freeza!" Kuririn yelled, as he, Bulma, and Gohan assumed fighting stances. "You'll have to fight us first!"

The purple one grinned evilly, and he raised the index finger of his left hand. The dragonballs rose from their place on the ground behind Bulma and the others and shot over to him, settling in a rather haphazard grouping about his head.

Bulma gasped in surprise. He had caught her off guard with that little stunt. Fortunately, Yamucha had been a master of chi manipulation, and part of the basics had been telekinesis. She concentrated her power fiercely on the dragonballs, and they slowly began to float towards her.

"What the?" he cried, strengthening his telekinetic hold on them. Bulma visibly strained against him, but she couldn't budge them any further. He was much too powerful. She glanced at the others with an expression of defeat, and Vegita growled in anger and frustration.

"Dammit!" he spat furiously. "Smash the other one! Now!"

Kuririn hesitated for a brief moment, the surprise and indecision plain on his face. However, he quickly gritted his teeth and pulled his fist back. He then snapped it down, shutting his eyes tightly as he realized that he was smashing their only chance to wish their friends back.

All at once, everything around Bulma took on a reddish hue, and she could sense a light strain on her movements. Even more surprising was the fact that her friends had stopped moving altogether. It seemed almost as if time had stopped, although everything was red instead of the usual blue. She knew that she hadn't stopped time, so what could have happened?

She got her answer when the short, green member of Team Ginyu suddenly walked over to Kuririn, grabbed the dragonball out of his hand, and just walked back to his position with his companions. He expelled a heavy breath, and then time resumed its normal flow once again.

Bulma's jaw was hanging as low as it could possibly go. She had been so astounded that she hadn't even made a move to stop him from taking the dragonball. She couldn't believe that someone else could do her signature move. Not only that, but she had been able to see him do it! She was shaken from her astonishment by Kuririn's distraught exclamations of surprise.

"Where'd it go?" he cried, looking around frantically.

"Damn you, Gurudo!" Vegita cried furiously. "I'd forgotten all about that stupid trick of yours!"

"What happened?" Kuririn asked angrily. "One second I had the dragonball in my hand, and the next he had it! What's the deal, here?"

"That one Vegita called Gurudo," Bulma answered him quietly, "can stop time."

"What?" Kuririn exclaimed. "You mean he can pull that time trick that you do? How do you know that?"

"I... I just know, okay?" Bulma snapped, too ashamed to mention that she'd let him just waltz on over and take their dragonball. "Trust me on this."

"Well, men," the purple one said, taking the dragonball from Gurudo and floating it up with the others, "I'll let you decide how to dispose of these four, but keep in mind that Lord Freeza was hoping to take care of Vegita himself. Don't get too carried away with him, unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm going to go on ahead and take these to our beloved leader right now!" With that, he shot off in the direction of Freeza's compound with the dragonballs zooming along with him.

"No!" Bulma shouted, taking off after him. "You can't do that!"

She had already gone past the rest of Team Ginyu when all at once the orange one with the white hair appeared from out of nowhere right in front of her. Bulma was unable to stop herself in time, and she crashed into him, crying aloud in fear and surprise as she hit him. He was blindingly fast! It was as if he had materialized out of the very air!

"Whoa there!" he laughed, grinning at her as she hastily shoved herself away from him and snapped her arms out in front of her in anticipation of an attack. "Captain Ginyu can do whatever he wants! Besides, it might be in your best interests if you didn't catch up with him, if you know what I mean."

Bulma was still breathing heavily from the scare he'd given her, and she wasn't yet ready to drop her guard. She scowled at him, and then she tilted her head to one side and glanced in despair at the disappearing image of Captain Ginyu as he flew out of sight. "Well, it's not as if I'd fare any better against the four of them," she thought to herself, returning her angry gaze to the one in front of her. She continued backing away from him slowly, eying him with no small degree of trepidation. He felt much stronger than Vegita, and she really didn't like the way he was looking at her. "You stay the hell away from me," she growled, trying her best to sound threatening.

He laughed loudly, apparently very amused by her obvious distrust. "Calm down, sweetie," he said. "It's not quite time for that yet. Why don't you go and join your companions for a little longer? Besides," he added, as Bulma did as he suggested and backed away from him more quickly, "Rikuum and I had something special planned for _you_ after we've taken care of the others!" His loud laughter echoed in her mind as she nervously sped back down to Vegita and her friends.

"He's so fast!" she said shakily as she joined her companions below. "I never even sensed him coming!" She shivered nervously.

"He's not the fastest one," Vegita remarked, scowling. "Baata - the large blue one on the right - claims to be the fastest warrior in the universe, after Freeza."

"Hey," Kuririn said, noticing the way Bulma was still shivering. "Just what did that guy say to you up there, Bulma? You're shaking like a leaf!"

Bulma tried to laugh as she continued to watch the white-haired guy, who was still eying her with a look that really creeped her out. "It- it's nothing," she said, shaking her head. "But what say we win this one, okay? I really don't want to lose to these freaks."

"Just keep your wits about you," Vegita grunted. "We may have a chance, but you three are going to have to do exactly as I say. Otherwise, I may be the only one who makes it out of here alive. I'm warning you; I won't have any of you hindering me. I'm nothing like that pathetic excuse for a Saiyan you have on Earth. When I discover a weak spot in my arsenal, I eliminate it before the enemy gets the chance to exploit it. Understand?"

Kuririn and Gohan glared at Vegita with contempt, but Bulma took a few deep, calming breaths and nodded her head. "Right now I'll take whatever chances I can get," she muttered, glancing at Vegita and setting her jaw. "Even if it means taking orders from you, Vegita, I'll do whatever it takes to win. You're in charge, Saiyan. I just hope you're as good as you're making yourself out to be."

Gohan and Kuririn stared at Bulma in amazement. "Bulma!" Kuririn gasped. "What are you saying?! You really wanna take orders from this guy?"

"Be quiet, Kuririn!" she snapped at him. "We're going to have to set aside our differences with Vegita for awhile. This fight is gonna be way bigger than anything we've prepared for, and you know it. Don't forget that these clowns are just the tip of the iceberg; we've still got Freeza to contend with. If we're going to win this thing our best chance is to work together, as a team. Vegita has the most experience with these people, and he's the strongest one on our side, so I say he's the most qualified to be in charge. Stop being so fixated on what happened in the past, and help us work on making sure we have a future, all right?"

Kuririn was dumbfounded. To think that Bulma would side with Vegita so quickly! At the same time though, her reasoning made so much damn sense that he couldn't even think of anything to say in protest.

"Well," Gohan said. "I guess that's that, eh, Kuririn?" Kuririn just scowled at him in reply.

Vegita bared his teeth. "Now that you're done squabbling among yourselves," he snarled, shooting them a withering glare, "maybe you ought to consider concentrating on the real battle at hand!" They did as he said, and they were surprised to see Team Ginyu playing Jan-ken.

"What are they doing?" Bulma said in confusion. "Surely they're not playing Jan-ken at a time like this?"

"They've chosen this method to decide who gets the pleasure of finishing us off, no doubt," Vegita snarled. "The idiotic fools! They do this same damn thing every time they have to decide something. I hate it!"

"Ha!" Gurudo cried suddenly. "I won! So that means I go first, huh?"

"Aw crap," the big, orange-haired one grumbled. "And I was so close, too."

"Don't worry Rikuum," the orange one said, patting him on the back. "Save your energy for our target. Gurudo only gets the two shrimps, after all."

"I would have preferred Vegita," Gurudo said, his voice whiny and petulant. "Those two won't even offer me a challenge."

"I think he's talking about you two," Bulma said quietly to Kuririn and Gohan, "but if I were you, I'd be very careful..."

"Ha!" Kuririn interjected. "No challenge, huh? He's the weakest of the whole bunch, and he says you and I aren't even a challenge! Well, we'll show him, right, Gohan?"

"Right!" Gohan agreed. As the rest of Team Ginyu moved back a bit to give Gurudo some space, Gohan and Kuririn began to charge up their chi tremendously. Then they nodded at each other and shot up into the air.

"Wait!" Bulma cried. "Come back here, you dummies! I'm trying to warn you about him!"

"Feh. The little imbeciles," Vegita muttered. "Even a fool woman like you was able to see the danger of Gurudo's abilities. They don't stand a chance."

Gohan and Kuririn each fired a massive energy blast down toward Gurudo. Just before the blasts would have hit, everything turned red again. Bulma let out an angry sigh and kept her eyes on Gurudo. If Vegita felt so strongly about his strength, those two were likely to need her help with this one.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: The Time Breather**

Gurudo jumped back in surprise when he realized how close Gohan's and Kuririn's blasts were to him. Apparently he'd underestimated the speed and power of his opponents. He glanced around a bit, as though he was searching for something.

Bulma scrutinized his actions very closely. Her friends had been too careless, and even though it was their own fault, she wasn't about to just let Gurudo pull a dirty trick on them. She didn't see any point in allowing this creep to use this technique to kill her friends, no matter how weak he was without it.

Suddenly Gurudo trotted off in the direction of a large boulder about fifty yards away. He was getting rather red in the face, and his cheeks were bulging out a bit. Bulma watched him with no small degree of curiosity as he dove behind the boulder and exhaled almost explosively, letting time flow normally again. Had he been holding his breath?

Gohan and Kuririn watched their blasts explode on the ground and waited patiently for the dust to clear. Apparently they couldn't sense their opponent down there, because they were grinning at each other and shooting each other a thumbs up. Sure enough, when the dust cleared enough to reveal what was below, and they saw neither hide nor hair of Gurudo, they all but decided that this battle was over.

"Hey guys!" Bulma yelled up at them. "You do know you missed him, right?" She glanced over at Gurudo and frowned as he gaped at her in horrified astonishment.

"What?!" Kuririn exclaimed, as he and Gohan stared at each other. "Where'd he go? There's no way he was fast enough to dodge our blasts!"

"It's your own fault for not listening to me," she called back, frowning angrily at them. "I tried to warn you about him!" She shook her head and glared at Gurudo again. He stared back at her curiously. He must have been surprised that she had noticed him so quickly, although Bulma thought that was kind of silly on his part, since he was in her field of view anyway.

"Hey!" Gohan said, looking around. "Where _did_ he go, anyway?" Bulma glanced at Gurudo again, and he gulped and shook his head, putting a finger to his lips as if to ask her to be quiet. She just rolled her eyes in disgust and looked away. The boys would eventually find him on their own anyway.

Gohan looked around a bit, scanning for Gurudo's chi, while Kuririn did the same. It didn't take them long to hone in on his vicinity, and then they noticed the boulder. Kuririn silently pointed to it, and then he and Gohan nodded at each other. They quietly descended, stealthily sneaking up on Gurudo's hiding place. Bulma watched them intently. They were like cats hunting a mouse – a small, green, pudgy mouse. This mouse thus far hadn't used any real attack against them. Bulma was beginning to feel uneasy as she was left wondering just what this guy was good for, anyway. She didn't like thinking so little of an opponent, because it almost always left her in the position to underestimate him. Surely he had some worthwhile skills other than time control.

He must have seen her following her companions' movements with her eyes, because just before the boys were upon him, he stopped time again, and he ran off towards another boulder. It appeared that he was trying to find a better hiding place.

Bulma groaned and ran after him, deciding that she was tired of just watching this nonsense from the sidelines. This guy was either a huge coward, or he was hiding something big, and she was bound and determined to find out which it was.

She ran up alongside him. "Hey!" she said sharply. "I'd like a word with you!"

Gurudo yelped in surprise, and time began to flow normally again. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, backing away from Bulma. "How did you do that?"

Gohan and Kuririn cried out in confusion when they found that their target was no longer behind the rock. They looked around and noticed that Bulma was off about twenty yards away, and she was talking to Gurudo. They flew over to see what was going on, and they landed about five yards away from them. Neither Bulma nor Gurudo paid them any attention; they were too intent on each other to care about them.

"What?" Bulma said, grinning craftily at Gurudo. "You mean this?" She stopped time herself and folded her arms. "You mean time control, right? Well, I've got news for you, buster, you're not the only one who knows how to stop time. I've known how to do this for a good, long while. Hey!" she said suddenly, noticing that Gurudo was acting very strangely. "What's the matter with you? Are you even listening to me?"

Gurudo had turned a royal shade of blue, and he was clasping his throat with both hands. He reached weakly up at Bulma with a trembling arm. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, still clasping his throat. His expression reminded Bulma of a person she'd seen choking in a lobster restaurant once before.

"What's your problem?" she said impatiently, backing out of his reach. "Are you choking or something?" Bulma resumed time's flow again and stepped back cautiously. What kind of odd battle tactic was this, anyway?

Gurudo gasped, inhaling almost as forcefully as a vacuum cleaner. He glared angrily at Bulma, and, huffing and puffing, managed to stand up again.

"Are you insane?!" he sputtered. "You almost suffocated me! I couldn't breathe!"

"You've got to be joking!" she said in amazement. "I saw you stop time just fine earlier! It had no effect on my breathing, so why should it be different when I do it? Just what are you trying to pull, anyway, yogurt-breath?"

"Me?!" Gurudo cried incredulously. "You're the one who cut off my air, you nitwit! When I stop time, I have to hold my breath, because if I breathe, time will pick up where it left off. That's just the way it is. But then you come along and stop time before I can even take a breath! Since I can't breathe when time is stopped, I was unable to breathe at all until you finally let time flow again! If you're going to stop time too, you can at least give me fair warning to hold my breath! What kind of animal are you, anyway?"

Bulma gaped at him in disbelief for a couple of seconds, until what he had said finally registered in her mind. "Hey, wait a minute, now!" she snapped angrily. "Let's not forget just whose side you're on here, pal! What makes you think I should give you warning about anything?"

"Oh yeah," he said, laughing nervously, with his hand behind his head. "That's right! I guess I forgot." Bulma nearly fell onto her face in surprise.

"Uh... heheh," Gurudo laughed, stepping back a bit. "You aren't planning on stopping time on me again, now are you?" he asked her nervously. "I mean, that wouldn't be very fair, don't you agree? You don't want to do something so dishonorable, do you?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you," she spat at him. "As I recall, it was only a little while ago that you were threatening to kill Gohan and Kuririn. Still, I'm not unreasonable. I guess I could show you a little leniency, as long as you agree to forfeit your fight with them and leave us alone."

Gurudo suddenly grinned evilly. "Well, I suppose they _can_ wait," he chuckled, stepping forward, "because I can see now that I have to kill you before I do anything else."

Bulma was so surprised by the boldness of his declaration that she began to laugh at him, lowering her guard for a few seconds, and forgetting about the danger she was in. Unfortunately that was more than enough of a chance for Gurudo, and he took full advantage of it.

"Kanashibari no jutsu!" he cried, sending an enormous wave of telekinetic energy right at her. If Bulma had been more than a few yards away, she might have been able to dodge it, but in such close proximity to Gurudo, she didn't have enough time to react. She instantly found herself unable to move. She could just barely move her facial muscles, and she could breathe all right, but aside from those things, she was completely immobile.

"Why... you!" She growled with considerable effort, struggling violently against his invisible grip on her body. "How... dare you!"

Gurudo grinned. He turned and shot a leering grin at the astonished Gohan and Kuririn. "Make a move, and I'll stop her heart right now!" he laughed at them.

"Damn you!" Kuririn cried. "Let go of Bulma, you little troll! She's not even your opponent anyway; we are, remember?"

"Yeah!" Gohan said fiercely. "Leave Bulma out of our fight, you jerk!"

"It's her own fault for interfering!" Gurudo snickered, grinning even more broadly. "Just try and do the same! If you so much as take a step towards us, I'll crush her ribcage and smash her heart. Rest assured, however, she would still suffer a slow, painful death! You'd be amazed at how long a person can remain alive after his heart is crushed right in his chest!"

Kuririn and Gohan scowled in reply, but they made no move towards Gurudo. They didn't dare. Bulma didn't know what to say. She knew Kuririn and Gohan wouldn't try to provoke Gurudo into hurting her, but they would never defeat him if they didn't attack. What could they do now?

"Heh," Gurudo snorted. "It's just as I thought. You're both a couple of fools to have given up so easily! Naturally, I was going to kill her whether you interfered or not! While I'm at it, I think I'll go ahead and finish you two off at the same time!"

"What?!" they cried angrily, balling their hands into fists. Before they could move a muscle, however, Gurudo made his move.

"Kanashibari no jutsu!" he cried, hitting them with the same body lock in which he held Bulma. She was surprised at his incredible level of control. At no time during his attack on Kuririn and Gohan did she feel his hold on her waver or weaken in any way. She glared at him, desperately trying to counter his grip with her own telekinesis, but found that she was sorely lacking in the skills necessary to resist his insane level of ability. He must have felt her feeble attempts, however, because he promptly turned around and stared at her in surprise.

"You're actually pushing back," he exclaimed. "Your telekinetic power is this strong? You shouldn't even be able to access your chi while I have you immobilized!"

"You haven't seen anything yet," she growled in frustration. "As soon as I wiggle free I'm going to pound you flat, you four-eyed little twerp!"

He laughed at her. "You shouldn't be so rude," he said, wagging his finger at her. "It's not very ladylike of you. I'm just going to have to teach you and your friends here a lesson before you get a chance to do any pounding, won't I?"

"Just try it!" she snarled, squirming a bit more. "I'll teach _you_ a lesson, you little creep!"

"Hey, Gurudo!" Jees called down. "Try not to muss her up too much, all right? Remember, the agreement was that you'd get to fight those two pipsqueaks, not her."

"It's too late for that," Gurudo called back. "I've got to make sure that she dies first. I'll trade her out for the two shrimpy ones if that's what'll satisfy you, but if I don't kill her now, she'll easily kill me! Do you want her to do that?"

"Is that a trick question?" Rikuum heckled him, elbowing Jees in the ribs.

Gurudo shot a withering glare at Rikuum, and then he turned back toward Bulma, pausing for a moment. He seemed to be deciding upon his next course of action.

"I've got it!" he said suddenly, balling his right hand into a fist and smacking it into his left. He turned around and began to concentrate on one of the nearby trees. Suddenly, it snapped off at the base of its trunk, and it rose some ten feet into the air. In mid air, Gurudo stripped it of its branches, and he fashioned its ends into sharp points.

As Bulma watched this incredible telekinetic display, she couldn't help but marvel at Gurudo's abilities. Not only was he keeping Kuririn, Gohan, and herself immobile, but at the same time he was also able to manipulate a strong tree trunk with enough precision to fashion it into an enormous spear. It didn't take her long to realize that now was not the time for admiration, however. She had to get herself out of this predicament now, or she was going to be shish kebab. Gurudo already had his projectile pointed in her direction and was preparing to strike.

"Any last words?" he asked, grinning broadly at her.

"Go to Hell!" she snarled at him, struggling violently with all the mental strength she could muster. She had to get out of there, and fast. Try as she might, however, she couldn't budge an inch. He was just too powerful.

"You first!" he cackled, and with a mighty heave, he propelled the pointed log straight at Bulma.

"No! Bulma!" Kuririn shouted.

Before she could even blink, Bulma suddenly felt Gurudo's hold on her disappear. She dove out of the way, just as the sharp chunk of wood plowed into the ground where she had been standing. She turned around to face Gurudo, but found - much to her surprise - that he had somehow been decapitated, and both his head and his body were lying on the ground!

Bulma felt her knees buckle as she realized just how close she'd come to biting the big one. Kuririn and Gohan ran over to make sure she was okay, and Vegita sauntered up to what was left of Gurudo.

"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed, as he and Gohan helped her up onto her shaky legs. "Are you all right?"

"I'm a little shaken up, but it beats being impaled," she gulped nervously. "What on Earth happened? Did Vegita do that to Gurudo?"

"He sure did," Gohan replied. "As soon as Gurudo threw that log at you, Vegita darted in and shot thin chi beam at Gurudo's neck, slicing his head completely off."

Bulma stared at Gohan in disbelief. "Why would Vegita do such a thing?" she thought. "He must have had some motive, but I know for certain that he didn't do that to save me. He couldn't have cared less if Gurudo _had_ finished me off, as long as he wins against Team Ginyu in the end."

Gurudo, or his head at least, suddenly began spitting curses at Vegita. Bulma, along with Kuririn and Gohan, gasped in amazement. Now that was something they hadn't expected!

"You stupid Saiyan!" he yelled. "Interfering idiot! How dare you? Oh, the things I'd do to you if I were still attached to my body!"

"That's just hideous!" Bulma exclaimed to Kuririn and Gohan, resisting the urge to gag. "How can a head just live by itself?"

"This one won't be alive for long," Vegita chuckled sinisterly. He extended his arm down toward Gurudo's face, and as Gurudo screamed one last insult, Vegita blasted him until he was nothing more than a big scorch mark on the ground.

Bulma glanced up at Team Ginyu to observe their reactions to this new development. They were stunned all right, but it didn't look as if they were going to lose their cool about it. Finally, Jees smirked at Vegita.

"I suppose Gurudo was careless," he said. "Too bad. But even though I can't say I liked him much or that I'll miss him, that doesn't mean you're going to go unpunished, Veggie-chan."

Vegita smirked back, seemingly unconcerned. Bulma could say this much about the gruff Saiyan: he certainly knew how to get on peoples' bad sides.

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan walked over to join him as Team Ginyu began to play Jan-ken again. Vegita pretended not to notice her or her friends, and Bulma could definitely sense that he wasn't exactly pleased to be associated with them. She supposed she could understand why, even though she felt rather indignant about it. She couldn't stand the fact that he always treated them like they were mere insects in his presence. She almost wished she could see him get really pounded today. Maybe that would teach him a lesson in humility.

"Thanks for jumping in when you did, Vegita," Kuririn said gratefully. "Bulma would have been toast."

"Toast on a stick," Gohan murmured.

Bulma shot them an angry glare. Why should they thank him? It wasn't as though he'd killed Gurudo just to save her! Well this was just perfect! Now he was going to think she owed him her life or something. The big jerk! She ground her teeth and stared angrily at the ground, nursing her pride in silent fury.

Vegita glanced at her briefly, observed her furious expression, and he scowled. "I couldn't care less about some fool woman with so little sense as to let a weakling like Gurudo get the better of her. I killed him when I did because he let his guard down, do you understand? I already told you fools that you don't mean anything to me. Stop simpering and start fighting like real warriors, or I'll kill you myself!" He looked up to watch Team Ginyu, scowling as fiercely as ever.

Gohan and Kuririn cringed, backing away like whipped puppies. Bulma's head shot up and she glared furiously at Vegita.

"That was _my_ fight," she snarled at him. "I never invited you to interfere, you arrogant bastard! In the future I'll thank you to leave my fights to me, and I'll leave yours to you. Do _you_ understand?"

He acted as if he hadn't heard her, all the while continuing to watch Team Ginyu. Kuririn and Gohan stared at Bulma uncomfortably. Why was she acting like this? What was she so mad at Vegita for all of the sudden? He'd just saved her life, for crying out loud!

Team Ginyu finished their game and turned to face their opponents. Kuririn remarked that he wondered which of their three remaining adversaries was next, and which of them he'd "won" the privilege of fighting.

Bulma was trying to prepare herself mentally for the next round, but her mind was trapped in other thoughts. She had suddenly come to the revolting realization that this had been the second time that Vegita had saved her life, even if unintentionally. The thought was almost too sickening to bear.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Rikuum Vs. Vegita**

"Well now," Jees said to his cohorts. "Since Veggie-chan has been so kind as to bring along some of his friends to meet us, I think it's only right that we properly introduce ourselves. Don't you agree, Veggie-chan?" he asked, sneering at Vegita. Vegita's only reply was an expletive hurled in Jees' direction. Jees grinned back at the rest of Team Ginyu, and they both nodded in assent. They neatly lined themselves up before their opponents.

"God, I detest it when they do this," Vegita muttered, glaring at them in utter disgust.

"What?" Bulma wondered to herself. Could there be anything more ridiculous than playing Jan-ken before a battle?

Suddenly the large orange-haired one stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, poising as if to attack. "I am Rikuum. The first member of Team Ginyu!" As he finished speaking, he jerked himself into the oddest position Bulma had ever seen. He had his back to Bulma and her friends, but he'd craned his neck around so that he was looking back at them. His right arm was pointing straight out away from him, slightly raised, and with his hand rigidly pointing in the same direction, palm down. His other arm was raised in such a way that he appeared to be flexing his bicep, except his hand was pointed in the same direction as his other arm, also palm downward. His right leg was extended far to the right, and it was straight and rigid, all the way to his ankle. His left leg was somewhat curled, pointing more to the left, and he rested it on the ball of his foot just behind the toes. All things considered, he reminded Bulma of an Egyptian hieroglyphic.

Next the really tall blue one stepped up. "I'm next!" he cried, sliding in next to Rikuum. "I'm Baata! Don't forget it!" Then, just as Rikuum had done, he placed himself in a strange position. He held his arms out straight like the wings of an airplane and raised his left leg - bent at the knee - out in front of him, with his toes pointing downward. His other leg pointed straight down, and it held all of his weight up.

Bulma was beginning to wonder what kind of fighting stances these were. They certainly didn't look very guarded, or even very comfortable, for that matter.

"And then there's me!" Jees cried, sliding in to the right of Rikuum and in front of Baata. "I'm Jees! I won't mind if you forget, considering the fact that you're all going to die before long!" Kuririn and Bulma gulped as they exchanged glances. Jees then assumed his own weird stance, which was quite possibly the strangest of them all. He curled his right arm in much the same way that Rikuum had curled his left, except Jees' hand was balled in a fist, and it pointed down at his shoulder. His left arm pointed straight up, fisted at the end, and really made him seem like he was about to punch Baata in the jaw. He was squatting down a bit, with his left leg pointed straight and jutting sharply out to the far right, while his right leg bent at the knee and pointed, with his foot flat on the ground, in the opposite direction, as it was balancing him and holding up most of his weight. He, like the other two, looked absolutely ridiculous.

Then, as if they had rehearsed it, they all cried out with a big flourish, "Behold the awesome power of... _Team Ginyu_!"

Bulma stared at this incredible coordinated display in utter astonishment for a few seconds. Then she began to snicker. She tried to rein it in as best as she could, but her chuckles soon grew much more persistent, and she couldn't contain them any longer. Much to Kuririn's horror and Gohan's surprise, she exploded in a wild fit of laughter.

"Bwahahahaha!" she laughed loudly, holding her side and pointing at Team Ginyu. "I just can't stand it; you three look absolutely hilarious! What kind of ridiculous fighting stances are those, anyway? Have you lost your minds? Do you have any idea how many vulnerable spots you've got open in those positions? Wahahahahaha!" She fell onto her back and rolled on the ground as she laughed at them. Tears began rolling down her cheeks. She'd never seen anything so ridiculous in her life!

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Baata yelled, sounding very insulted indeed. "Don't you know a good pose when you see one?!"

"What?" Bulma cried, forcefully suppressing her giggles long enough to sit up and stare at him in surprise. "You... *snort* you mean to tell me you're posing?!"

"Of course!" he replied impatiently. "Team Ginyu is the most stylish group of mercenaries in the universe! Why shouldn't we pose?"

Bulma just stared at him for a few seconds, quite taken aback by his logic. She kept expecting him to say it had been a joke, and that it was really a tactic that was building up to a powerful attack. She glanced up at Vegita as if to say, "he's kidding, right?" He only ignored her and glared in absolute disgust at Team Ginyu. Bulma wondered for a second how she was supposed to take these adversaries seriously after that, but then reason told her that they wouldn't be able to get away with stunts like this if they didn't have the power to back them up. Shaking her head with a wide-eyed, puzzled expression, she got up and brushed the dirt off of herself. She wondered what other ridiculous things these guys did during their battles.

"All right then," Rikuum said, as they assumed more practical and comfortable stances. "Now that the introductions are over, it's time to get down to business. Guess what, Veggie-chan? It's your lucky day! I get the pleasure of being your executioner!" He struck another hilarious pose, this one being more reminiscent of a ballet pose.

Vegita didn't reply, but he seemed to have had enough. He began to seriously charge up his chi. After only a few seconds, Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan had to back away from him, since his aura was becoming too forceful and volatile for them to remain in close quarters with him.

"Geez!" Bulma yelled to Kuririn. "Vegita's really turning up the juice, isn't he?"

"No joke!" Kuririn called back. "Maybe we should just stay out of his way for this one. I have a feeling that this fight'll be way out of our league."

Bulma and Gohan nodded in agreement, and they turned their attention back toward Vegita. He was really pouring on the steam. His chi aura had turned bright blue, and he had a large vein protruding from his forehead. He started to scream, letting his chi explode in a huge surge of power. Growling, he glared at Rikuum, who was gaping at Vegita in surprise.

Bulma estimated that he was somewhere around 40 or 50 thousand degrees on a scouter. He still wasn't as strong as Rikuum was, but he might be strong enough to take him by surprise.

Vegita suddenly lunged at Rikuum - who had been caught completely off guard - and he punched him squarely in the jaw. As Rikuum fell backward from the impact, Vegita shot over and behind him and smashed him down into the ground with both hands. He then shot straight up into the air, and while Rikuum was still flat on the ground, he zoomed down and stomped both his feet into Rikuum's chest. Before the large man could make a move, Vegita grabbed his left leg and began twirling him around and around in a tight, rapid spiral. All at once, he let go of Rikuum - who shot straight into the side of a mountain, nearly half a mile away.

Vegita wasn't through yet. His arms were each engulfed by a huge ball of chi, and he held them straight out on either side of him. Screaming furiously, he smacked his hands together in front of him and charged up tremendously. Kuririn shoved Bulma and Gohan to the ground before diving down beside them, just as Vegita let his chi blast go. It hurtled toward Rikuum and the crumbled mountain with so much speed and strength that it dug a wide, deep furrow in the ground as it screamed through the air. Bulma glanced back to see Vegita, dwarfed by his enormous energy beam, and for the first time since Team Ginyu had appeared, she allowed herself to hope that they might actually have a chance after all.

As Vegita's blast connected, the ground beneath them shook violently, and Bulma's ears rang from the fierce multiple explosions caused by his blast. "Rikuum must surely be feeling this!" she thought excitedly, shielding her face from the gravel and dirt that was being kicked up in the wake of the blast.

"Let's see if you can handle this!" Vegita yelled, intensifying his blast even further. The terrain around Rikuum's mountain erupted in a huge mound of exploding energy, and Bulma knew it would have taken a truly exceptional warrior to have survived such a maddeningly powerful blast. She only hoped that Rikuum wasn't just such a fighter, because as Vegita finally slowed down and stopped, she could see that he was sorely winded. That bout had taken a lot out of him, and Bulma very much doubted he'd have much of a chance if Rikuum weren't at least seriously wounded.

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan got up and watched anxiously as the enormous debris cloud in front of them began to shift in the wind. They were all very curious to see what condition Rikuum was in.

Gohan suddenly gasped, and Bulma and Kuririn shared in his horror. They could all sense a huge chi in there, which was definitely Rikuum's. To make matters worse, it didn't seem even remotely weaker than before, either.

"Vegita didn't even make a dent in him!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Look at him! After all that firepower, the guy's barely got a mark on 'im!"

It was true. Out from the cloud of dust emerged Rikuum, still very much intact, exept for his armor, which had been blown away. He grinned, fully enjoying the looks of horrified astonishment on the faces of Vegita, Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn. He walked casually back to them, and he stopped about twenty yards away from Vegita and began clapping his hands.

"Well done, Veggie-chan!" he exclaimed. "Bravo! You've improved a lot since we last met, haven't you? This fight may prove to be interesting after all! Now," he said, assuming a fighting stance and smiling brightly at him. "I suppose I should fight for real now. It _is_ my turn, right Veggie-chan?"

Bulma glanced at Vegita. He certainly didn't look very pleased with this turn of events. She wondered how long he could last. She didn't want to think about it, but it did seem as though things had taken a very nasty turn for the worse.

The first thing Rikuum did was hop straight up in the air. At the very instant he had landed, he was already making a beeline for Vegita. Vegita didn't even have time to react. Rikuum kneed him viciously in the face, and Vegita went sailing backward.

Vegita regained his control in midair and pushed off an outcropping of rock to help spin himself over and land on his feet. He then rocketed straight up into the air at Rikuum, yelling in rage.

Rikuum and Vegita then exchanged some serious blows in close-range. Vegita was laying out the punches blindingly fast - much faster than Bulma could keep up with - but she was, however, able to see that Rikuum wasn't being hit by them. After about fifteen seconds of allowing Vegita's fruitless attempts to continue, Rikuum drew his fist back and pounded it violently into Vegita's face, causing the unfortunate Saiyan to slam down into the ground. Rikuum shot after him to hit him again, but Vegita flew back out of the way, just barely in time to avoid Rikuum's massive fist as it buried itself into the hard-packed soil.

Rikuum must have anticipated this, because in a flash he was right behind Vegita. Rikuum chased him at a pretty fair pace for a couple of seconds, before Vegita charged up and spun around, flinging an intense chi ball at his unsuspecting pursuer.

Bulma and the boys whooped excitedly, but Rikuum wasn't so easily fooled. He dodged the blast with incredible ease, and he flew - much too quickly for anyone to keep up with his movements - up and behind Vegita. He materialized upside down, right behind Vegita. He had snuck up on him so perfectly that he had no difficulty in landing a powerful kick on the back of Vegita's neck, sending him plummeting to a lake below. Rikuum grinned evilly as Vegita slammed into the water, the impact shooting a plume of foam and spray hundreds of feet into the air.

Bulma and the others gasped and watched the water intently for signs of Vegita's still being conscious. Thirty seconds and then a full minute went by with no more disturbances on the water's surface. It had since calmed to small ripples by now, and Bulma and her friends were becoming very nervous. It was nerve-racking to see someone get blasted into water, because it was nearly impossible to accurately sense chi through it. Bulma couldn't sense any trace of Vegita down there, but that could have meant anything.

Rikuum hovered overhead, grinning and studying the water. He lowered himself to just a few feet above the surface, and then he called out to Vegita, saying he couldn't hold his breath down there forever. Bulma suddenly noticed a line of bubbles forming way on the other side of the lake, heading toward Rikuum, and they were moving forward fast. Depending on how far down Vegita was, he was probably very close to being directly underneath Rikuum by now.

Sure enough, just as Rikuum noticed the bubbles, Vegita shot up out of the water, fists extended, and rammed into Rikuum's stomach. He rocketed him skyward for a good distance, and then, after slowing down, he began throwing vicious punches into the behemoth's gut.

Bulma thought that at last Vegita had gotten the better of Rikuum, but all at once she saw that she had been wrong. Rikuum had regained his composure, and after bending over, he grabbed Vegita around the middle. Poor Vegita kicked his legs around frantically, but Rikuum simply lifted him high above his head, and then he shot down towards the ground - with Vegita screaming and kicking in tow - at a tremendous rate of speed. As Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan looked on in horror, he slammed Vegita into the ground with so much force that it felt like an earthquake even from the few hundred yards away where they were standing.

The dust cloud cleared to reveal Rikuum standing over a small crater, with Vegita buried, head-first and up to his waist, in its center. Chuckling, Rikuum bent down and grabbed one of Vegita's feet.

"Look, boys! I think this vegetable's not quite ripe yet! It's a awfully small!" Jees and Baata laughed riotously at this comment, pointing at Vegita as Rikuum yanked him out of the ground like a turnip.

Vegita groaned painfully and swung away from Rikuum. It appeared that he had been beaten, but without warning, he snapped his hands forward and launched a blast of chi right into Rikuum's face.

Unable to dodge it at such a close range, Rikuum bellowed in surprise as it knocked him backwards, and he let go of Vegita, who landed on his back in the small crater. From the looks of it, his attack had taken Rikuum completely by surprise, but unfortunately, it must have been Vegita's last bit of strength. He didn't look as though he'd be able to take another large hit anymore.

"Hey guys," Bulma whispered. "We have to do something about this. Vegita's going to die soon if we don't step in. It's not that I have any great love for the arrogant jerk, but I don't think I can just stand back and do nothing while this big doofus plays his sick games with him. Even if it is Vegita, there's only so much I can bear to watch before I have to make it stop."

"I agree," Kuririn replied, nodding gravely. "Besides, he's no good to us dead anyway. He'll probably double-cross us in the end, but we won't be able to beat Freeza - or even these guys for that matter - if we don't have his help."

"You're right," Gohan said. "I don't know how much of a chance we'll have against that big guy, but we were going to have to fight him eventually anyway after he killed Vegita, right? We might as well step in before he gets a chance to do it. We might even get lucky and surprise him."

Rikuum had gotten up again, and he looked a little worse for the wear. All of his hair had been burned away, save for a singed, jagged lock of it on the very top of his head.

"Well now, Vegita," he said, chuckling sinisterly. "I'd say your time is about up. I don't use this technique on many people, but then again, not many have given me this much trouble before. You should feel honored that you're going to get to experience my ultimate technique!"

Vegita had managed to stumble unsteadily to his feet, and what a mangled mess he was, too! There was no way he'd get up again if Rikuum attacked him again. He was done.

"Here's the plan," Kuririn said. "When he begins this attack, Gohan and I will sneak up behind him and cut him off. At the same time Bulma, I want you to teleport in there and get Vegita to safety. Then, you stick with him. Keep the other guys offa him, understand? Gohan and I will handle Rikuum!"

"All right," she agreed. "What do I do if you need help?"

"If that's the case, then let me or Gohan call you in first. Don't leave Vegita alone unless we say so. He's our only way to beat Freeza."

"That'll have to do it, guys," Gohan said. "Rikuum's charging up his chi for something big!"

He was right. Rikuum was hunched over, and his aura was crackling and sparking like crazy. "Prepare yourself, Vegita," he shouted, "for the Rikuum Eraser Gun!" He opened his mouth wide, and Bulma sensed an incredible surge of power concentrating itself there. He was going to pull a similar trick to the one Nappa had tried back on Earth, only on a much larger scale.

"That's it guys!" Kuririn cried. "Let's go!" As he and Gohan shot over behind Rikuum - who had already formed the blast by now, and was just beginning to launch it - Bulma teleported to Vegita's side, grabbed him around his waist, then shot back up to her former position, which was just out of reach of the small explosion caused by Rikuum's blast. She saw, much to her satisfaction, that Kuririn had gotten to Rikuum first and kicked him in the back of the head, causing his mouth to close right in the middle of his "Eraser Gun," which exploded inside his mouth! Not allowing him a chance to recover, Gohan began punching him violently in the stomach, while Kuririn held back in case Rikuum knocked himself loose.

"Damned fool woman!" Vegita cursed Bulma feebly. "Whatever happened to leaving my fights to me? I'll kill you for this insult!"

"Just shut it, Vegita," she scolded him. "I would have liked nothing more than to leave you down there to get obliterated, but we need you to beat Freeza. Besides, you didn't look to me like you were about to do any more fighting anyway. Just be patient. You'll probably get another shot in, at least against one of the others, if they're as strong as this one is."

"Worse," Vegita muttered. "We're about out of options by now. We'll simply have to fight them until they grow weary of toying with us. That's all we can do."

Bulma shuddered and looked at her watch. Goku was due to arrive any time today. She hoped it would be soon. The prospect of pitting herself against any one of their remaining enemies was not a pleasant one at all.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: The Unbeatable Giant**

Bulma watched Rikuum intently as Gohan did his best to keep him down. She glanced up at Kuririn, who was fidgeting nervously but keeping a close eye on the movements of the large Team Ginyu member.

Rikuum slowly began to push himself up, despite all of Gohan's efforts to punch him flat on the ground. He didn't seem to be working too hard in pushing Gohan back, either. He was grinning an almost toothless grin at his tiny assailant, and when he finally stood upright, he simply knocked Gohan away from him like one would a pesky insect. Kuririn must have decided it was his turn, because he launched himself full force at Rikuum from behind. He was about to punch him in the back of the head, but Bulma, who was able to see what Kuririn couldn't, could tell by the sinister gleam in his eyes that Rikuum knew exactly what was approaching him from behind. He spun around just in time to kick Kuririn violently in the side. Bulma heard a sickening crack as Kuririn sailed away from Rikuum and flopped over a couple of times before skidding to a stop on his stomach. "Kuririn!" Gohan shrieked, darting over to his injured friend's side. "Are you okay? Get up, Kuririn!"

"Sorry, kid," Kuririn rasped, wincing as he struggled to rise. "My back must be broken. I can barely move. I guess it's up to you and Bulma now. I'm... I'm sorry. I sure seem to have a bad habit for this sort of thing, don't I?" His head sunk to the ground and his breathing became labored.

"You just take it easy, Kuririn," Gohan said. "It's not your fault at all, so you just rest and let me take care of Rikuum. We'll still win this thing; you'll see! I'm betting my life on it." He slowly stood upright, and Bulma could see his shoulders shake a little with emotion. He then turned around to face Rikuum. Bulma could tell right away that Gohan was really mad. His chi was skyrocketing, and he was staring, coldly and fiercely, right at Rikuum. It made even Bulma uncomfortable to see such a look on Gohan's face, but Rikuum only sneered at him and told him that he had made a very foolish bet.

Bulma had no desire to try to help Gohan now. She knew from past experience that when he was this angry, it was always best to just stay out of his way. She stayed back with Vegita and didn't make a sound as Gohan slowly began walking toward Rikuum.

Bulma watched tensely as Rikuum poised to strike. Gohan stopped just a few yards short of him, and Bulma felt his chi surge one last time. He growled in contempt at Rikuum.

"Don't worry, kid," Rikuum laughed. "Just to show you that I'm a nice guy, I'll do this much for you. I'll kill you before I deal with your friends. I wouldn't want such an impressionable tyke to see what I have in store for them!"

"You're not going to touch them!" he snarled, intensifying his chi even further. "Masenko!" he screamed, firing the potent blast straight at Rikuum. The large man was suddenly enveloped by a blanket of chi, which exploded all around him in a spectacular burst of white light. Bulma had to shield her eyes from the bright explosion, but she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gohan shot straight into the explosion at his opponent. He, along with the now immobilized Rikuum, burst out the other side of the weakening blast. Gohan popped Rikuum a good one in the jaw, propelling him higher into the air. Gohan then shot straight up above him. He slammed his feet squarely into Rikuum's face, and he allowed the abrupt impact to smash him into the ground. Gohan was far from done, however. He zoomed down, yelling in rage and fury, with his fist drawn way back. As his fist connected with Rikuum, he executed one of the most frighteningly powerful blows that Bulma had ever seen him dish out - right in the center of Rikuum's rib cage.

With that, Gohan launched himself skyward, and he began to charge up his chi again. Bulma was sure he was getting ready to deal the final blow. He was practically on fire up there!

All at once Gohan screamed and let all his concentrated chi go in a fast moving, slender beam, right down on top of Rikuum. The blast from this impact was tremendous. It was so potent, in fact, that Bulma had to throw Vegita and herself to the ground to keep them from being blown away.

"That kid's got more power than I expected," Vegita grunted, with a kind of grudging admiration in his voice. "It's too bad for him that Rikuum's not feeling any of this."

"What are you saying?" Bulma asked him incredulously. The blast was beginning to dissipate, and Gohan had landed on the ground off to one side, watching for signs of life from Rikuum. He looked pretty worn out, but Bulma could tell from her chi sense alone that he still had a lot of fight in him.

"I'm saying that Rikuum has only been toying with that boy!" Vegita retorted angrily as he struggled to return to his feet. "He's been letting that brat shove him around for a while, just so he'll get to see the look of shock on the kid's face when he finds out that all the stuff he's thrown at him has been in vain. The bastard just eats it up. You watch; he does this to all of his opponents. Any minute now, he'll suddenly regain his abilities and begin to fight back."

Bulma frowned in disbelief as she got up and dusted herself off. Gohan had dealt even stronger blows to Rikuum than Vegita had, and despite all that, she was supposed to believe that Rikuum was going to come out of it all unscathed? Yeah, right. All the same, she had an uneasy feeling about it all. She'd learned again and again over the past few months that she couldn't always count out what she thought was impossible.

When the dust had finally cleared enough for Bulma to see Rikuum, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd half expected him to be standing up and posing again, but he was lying on the ground, right where she'd last seen him, and he wasn't moving. Bulma shot a triumphant glare back at Vegita, but he didn't take his eyes off of Rikuum. Bulma heard a small chuckle come from Rikuum, and as she gasped and jerked her head back around, Vegita just shook his head at her angrily.

Rikuum's eyes were still closed, but he had a sickening grin on his face. He hopped up suddenly, landing solidly on both feet. He opened his eyes, and they peered eagerly straight at Gohan.

Gohan was definitely surprised, but he didn't let it get the better of him. He steadied himself and assumed a fighting stance. He had known going into this that he'd had a hard battle ahead of him, and it hadn't taken him long to resign himself to the fact that he still had some distance left to go.

"Hm." Rikuum grunted, frowning and crossing his arms. "Not quite the reaction I was hoping for. You're no fun at all, kid, you know that?"

"This isn't a game, you jerk," Gohan muttered. He drew his arms defensively in front of him and began to charge up again.

"All right then," Rikuum muttered with a disgusted sigh. "If that's how you want it, then I'll just get it over with now. Geez, I hate people without the sense to know when it's time to panic."

Gohan paid him little heed, but after one quick glance at Bulma and Vegita, he lunged at Rikuum. Apparently he was ready to try his fists again. He started off with a solid punch to Rikuum's jaw, which connected, much to Bulma's relief.

Rikuum grinned evily, however, and before Gohan could throw another punch, he kneed him viciously in the ribs. He then grabbed Gohan's head with one hand, and he hurled him head-first toward the turf below.

Gohan managed to regain control before he hit, and he jumped back and out of the way, just in time for Rikuum to plow his fist into the ground. Rikuum then fired off a large volley of chi blasts, which Gohan had to continuously hop backwards to avoid. Rikuum now had him on the run, and Gohan was really having to work hard to keep ahead of him. Rikuum then threw a much larger chi blast, which whistled and screeched as it ripped through the air on its way to Gohan. It was moving much too quickly for Gohan to avoid it, however, and it exploded violently as it hit him, sending Gohan plowing through a small hill before skidding to a painful stop on the ground a few yards away.

He seemed to be fairly stunned, as he didn't move right away. After a couple of moments, he began to struggle to right himself, and Rikuum seized the prime opportunity to attack again. He sprinted toward Gohan, who was unable to get up in time to avoid the oncoming danger. Rikuum punted him like he would a football, and Gohan sailed - screaming in agony - nearly fifty yards away, where he landed with a dull thud on the flat, rocky ground. He didn't move.

Bulma had seen enough. "That's it," she growled. "I've had enough of this crap! That Rikuum guy is toast!" She was about to take off after Rikuum, but Vegita gripped her arm and held her back.

"Not yet," he told her. "Don't interfere with them until he's completely unable to fight. The longer you wait, the more energy Rikuum will waste on the boy, and the less he'll have for you."

"Take your filthy hand off of me!" she snarled, baring her teeth at him as she yanked her arm free of his grip. "Gohan's nearly dead out there! Do you honestly expect me to just stand by and let Rikuum finish him off?! What difference would one more attack make, anyway? That's all it's going to take to end this one-sided skirmish, and I don't see why it should make all that much difference to me. He's going to be just as far out of my league after one more attack as he is now, isn't he?"

"The brat's not out of it yet," Vegita replied coolly, pointing at Gohan, who had stumbled clumsily to his feet by now and was staunchly facing off against Rikuum again. "You'd only insult him if you interfered now."

She turned to see what Vegita was talking about and saw that Gohan had gotten to his feet again. "Gohan, you little twit!" she whispered fiercely, balling her hands into fists and fighting hard against the powerful urge to swoop in and get him out of there. Much as she hated to admit it, Vegita had brought up a good point, even if only indirectly. She had to wait for as long as she possibly could. Even Vegita didn't know how important it was for them to stall for time. If only they could just hold out until Goku arrived, she was certain everything would be all right. She sighed and watched anxiously as Gohan walked toward Rikuum. She didn't think he'd be able to get up from another major hit, but then again, she had thought the same thing earlier, too.

"Man, this kid just doesn't know when to quit!" Rikuum said, laughing. "I guess I'll just have to try harder, won't I, guys?"

Baata laughed. "Come on, Rikuum," he teased. "You're just ashamed to admit that you've been beaten. You're just no match for the mighty midget down there. Do you want us to step in? I don't think you can handle this one alone." He laughed loudly as Rikuum offered him an obscene gesture in reply.

"Come on, Rikuum," Jees called. "Get on with it. Hurry up and kill that little pipsqueak so Baata and I can get started on the others!"

"Don't worry," Rikuum said. "I was about to do just that." He grinned evilly at Gohan. "Well, kid," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I guess it's time for you to say goodbye. Don't forget to think of me when you get to Hell."

"You're the one who's going to Hell!" Gohan screamed. With the last bit of effort and strength he had left, he hurled himself at Rikuum.

Rikuum grinned, and what followed seemed to happen in slow motion and was one of the most excruciating spectacles Bulma had ever been forced to witness. Rikuum drew his leg back, pivoted his body around the ball of his other foot, grabbed onto Gohan, and then violently slammed his knee into Gohan's neck.

Bulma heard a sharp crack, and she watched in horror as Rikuum dropkicked Gohan in their direction. He landed on his back less than twenty feet away from them, and his head flopped backwards unnaturally. His dilated pupils stared blankly in her direction. She was able to gather from his dull, lifeless expression that Gohan's neck had been broken. His leg twitched spasmodically, but that was the only part of him that moved. He was done. He would not be getting up again.

"G-... G-... Goh-han!" Bulma stammered, raising her hands to her mouth as she struggled to restrain the scream of horror that was threatening to escape. The boy's chi was marginal. At any moment he might draw his final breath, and nothing short of a sensu bean could save him now. Bulma was wobbly with shock and grief as she stared at his near-lifeless form. How could she have let this happen? If only she had ignored Vegita and teleported in there when she had first intended, he wouldn't be in this condition!

"He's... he's going to pay for this!" she whispered, her face pale and her entire body quivering with rage. "That bastard is going to die for what he's done!"

"Don't be a fool," Vegita told her quietly. "You know as well as I do that even the brat was a lot stronger than you are. What do you think you'll be able to do? You won't even offer the bastard sufficient sport to make it worth his while. You'd do yourself a big favor if you just go now. Even if you were able to defeat the entire Team Ginyu, your friends would still die. Their injuries are mortal, as far as the conditions go. There are no doctors here to mend them, so just forget about them and leave. I couldn't care less what happened to you or your little friends, but it irritates me to have to witness such stupidity in the waning hours of my noble life. Only a fool would throw her life away over two half-dead weaklings."

"Regardless of what you may think of me or Earthlings in general," Bulma said quietly, trying to keep from blowing up at him, "I'm not such a coward, Vegita. I'm going to stay and fight for as long as my friends are alive. I don't care if their injuries _are_ mortal; I'd much rather die here fighting for their honor than die a coward's death later when Freeza gains immortality and destroys this planet. Besides, I'm not as weak as you might think. What I lack in power I make up for in other areas. Go ahead and die if that's what you've set your mind to do, but do it quietly, because I've made up my mind, and this is the way it's got to be."

"Suit yourself," Vegita grunted, shrugging. "Like I said, I couldn't care less what happens to you, but I still say you're being foolish. Just don't look to me for help when they're about to kill you, because you'll have no one to blame but your own fool self."

Bulma shook her head and turned her attention toward Rikuum. He strode over toward them with a triumphant smile on his face. He noticed Gohan's leg twitch, and he laughed sadistically. "Uh-oh!" he exclaimed. "It looks like I didn't quite squash the little bug, did I? Well, one more good stomp ought to take care of him, wouldn't you say?" He stopped walking and pointed his left arm, palm up, at Gohan's head. Bulma could stand no more. She launched herself at Rikuum, smacked his arm aside, and slapped him smartly across the face. Jumping back and striking a solid defensive position in front of Gohan, she fashioned herself into the most powerful shield she could manage, every muscle tensed and every sense alert. Rikuum, stunned that she'd caught him off guard, felt his face where she'd slapped him. It had turned a light pink.

"Back off!" she barked at him. "Enough already! Gohan's no more of a threat to you now than an actual bug would be! If you want an actual challenge, then I'll give you one, you insufferable beast!"

Rikuum recovered from his initial shock and laughed heartily. "Well, you certainly have guts! What makes you think you'll be any kind of challenge to me?" he asked her condescendingly.

"Oh, come off it!" she snapped. "Coward! Gohan's practically dead anyway. What kind of challenge are you expecting to find in killing _him_, may I ask? It's not as if he'll suddenly get up and fight again, for Kami's sake! You've broken his neck, you bastard! His chi is practically down to zero!"

"So what?" Rikuum said, shrugging and grinning at her. "It's not as satisfying if I don't get to kill him when he stops moving. Besides, he brought this on himself when he interrupted my fight with Vegita. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a bug to squash." With that, he shoved her to the side so forcefully that she sailed several yards away, where she landed roughly on her back.

Bulma scrambled to her feet and quickly considered her options. There was no Goku here to save Gohan this time. It was up to her to do something. She knew there was no way she could best this brute in fair combat. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, something occurred to her that all at once seemed the perfect answer to her problem. Her teleport technique! She had totally forgotten her theory about fighting during teleportation! She had to try it. Gohan was out of time. Rikuum was right in his face!

"That's it!" she yelled at him. He glanced up at her. "Block this, cretin! Rapid teleport!"

The first thing she did was to go over and push Rikuum far away from Gohan. When she had him a good fifty feet away, she studied him for a second. What should she try first? She'd never done this before, and she didn't know what kind of effect it would have on him. She eventually decided to start off with some hard jabs to his ribs and his face, so she did, and as she expected, the little indentations her fists made remained where they were. She worked him over then, punching, kicking, and scratching until his entire upper body was nothing but a bumpy, pockmarked mess. Panting and tired, she stepped away from him to inspect her work. She hadn't really broken any skin, but he was still almost beyond recognition.

Bulma was fairly well exhausted. She'd forgotten how quickly strenuous movement in halted time could drain her energy. She'd have to take that into consideration from now on. She wouldn't be able to make attacks like this very often. She only hoped she'd done sufficient damage to slow the big brute down.

She walked back over to Gohan and stood between him and Rikuum. She looked back at Vegita, who was staring with what appeared to be mild interest at the place where Bulma had been at the onset of her teleport. She shook her head. She wondered if it was really worth their time to protect him from Team Ginyu. Sighing, she steadied herself and prepared to let time flow again. She was anxious to see just how effective this new tactic of hers was going to be.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Better Late Than Never**

Bulma breathed a heavy sigh and let time resume its pace. She watched Rikuum intently so that she could observe his reaction to her new means of attacking.

At first, Rikuum wavered unsteadily on his feet as all the little indentations she'd made on his body filled themselves out. "What the hell?!" he yelled, crashing to the ground and rolling back and forth as he clutched at his face and his midsection. "How in the...? What in blazes did you do to me?!" he roared, still rolling on the ground in pain.

Suddenly loud hoots and wild laughter filled the air, and Bulma glanced up to see Jees and Baata rolling on the ground laughing. They looked so silly that she almost grinned when she saw them.

"Rikuum, you're such a wuss!" Jees laughed. "I can't believe you just let yourself get so thrashed by a _woman_! Wahahahaha!"

"Yeah!" Baata exclaimed, pointing at Rikuum. "What good is a man who can't even defeat a woman? Maybe we oughta kick 'im off the team, and recruit _her_ instead!" They both laughed riotously after that, and Rikuum's face turned bright red – so much so that even his ears were tinged with pink. Growling angrily, he scrambled to his feet and yelled at them to shut the hell up. Bulma rolled her eyes. They were acting like a bunch of schoolyard children.

Suddenly Bulma felt a jolt of chi smash into her senses from somewhere up in the sky, and she tilted her head in its direction to see what was going on. She couldn't see anything up there. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it ebbed away to the barest trace imaginable. She wondered what had happened, and she glanced over at Vegita. He was staring up in the same direction as the strange chi presence too. He shared her puzzled expression. She hadn't realized it until then, but it appeared that Vegita could now sense chi. Strange that she hadn't noticed it before, she thought to herself. Well, anyway, he had apparently sensed it too, that strange aura. What could it have been?

She labored over it for a few seconds more before the answer came to her and hit her all at once like a ton of bricks. Goku! It had to be him! It had even felt like his chi! She could barely sense him now, but that didn't mean anything. Goku knew that the enemies on this planet had scouters. No doubt he was suppressing his chi so that he couldn't be detected as easily. She could tell he was getting closer, even though he was still pretty far away. He definitely hadn't reached the planet yet. That made no difference to Bulma, however. All she cared about was the undeniable fact that he was coming, and that he'd be there soon! She was beaming at the sky with tears of relief streaming down her face, and she was completely oblivious to everything else. She was so lost in her reveries, in fact, that she wasn't paying any attention to Rikuum. He had cautiously made his way over to her, occasionally glancing up at the sky to discover just what it was she was smiling at. Finally, after scratching his head a bit, he shrugged and drew his massive fist back to pay her back for that little humiliation that she'd put him through earlier. Just before it was to connect, she leapt aside and shot off toward Kuririn - all the while paying no heed to Rikuum, who lost his balance and fell flat on his face (much to the vocal delight and entertainment of his fellow team members).

"Kuririn!" she said excitedly as she ran up to him and knelt at his side. "It's Goku, Kuririn! I can feel it! He'll be here at any minute!"

"He... he will?" Kuririn gasped, struggling to look up at the sky. "Are you sure, Bulma?"

"I'm positive!" she exclaimed, beaming at him happily. "Just hang on for a while longer, Kuririn. I just know that Goku will find a way to make things right!"

She got up and stared curiously at Rikuum, who was angrily wiping the dirt off of his face. He stared back at her testily, as if she had insulted him somehow. She was almost giddy with relief that Goku was on his way, and she even felt a little gutsier because of it. Looking at Rikuum, however, made her remember that she still had a job to do. She had to protect her friends from this bully, at least until Goku arrived. At least now she knew she had a chance, though. All she had to do was stall him a little longer.

As a sly grin slowly spread across her face, Bulma strolled over to Rikuum. She stopped a few yards short of him and assumed a fighting stance. "Shall we continue?" she asked politely.

"What the hell was all that about?" he snapped at her impatiently.

Bulma grinned more broadly and shook her head. "Sorry for that interruption," she apologized courteously. "It was never my intention to be rude. Don't worry. I won't skip out on you again."

"Well, that's really very kind of you," Rikuum jeered at her. "I'd hate to think you weren't enjoying my company."

"Hey, Rikuum!" Jees suddenly yelled at him. "Will you quit fooling around down there and do your job? Hurry up and dispose of the two little invalids and be done with it! We never even agreed you could fight them, but now that you've ruined them for us, it's only fair that you finish them off. You've lost your chance with Vegita, pal. Baata's going to finish him off. And as for the other one, she's mine, so keep your greedy mitts off her." He grinned fiendishly at Bulma, who pretended to ignore him but felt her gorge rise a little at the way he was looking at her.

Rikuum instantly began to protest, complaining that it wasn't his fault that they had gotten in his way. Vegita was supposed to be his, and he still had to pay the girl back for what she'd done to him earlier. Jees and Baata didn't give an inch to him, though. They were totally unwilling to listen to his angry protests, and it was easy to see that Rikuum was outnumbered. He was fighting a losing battle, and he knew it.

Bulma began to worry. She couldn't hold Rikuum off of Kuririn and Gohan forever, especially if Jees and Baata decided to hold her off of _him_. Rikuum flew over to his comrades so he could argue some more, and Bulma glanced over at Gohan, and then at Vegita, who was still standing, hunched over, a few yards behind him – with a very disgusted scowl on his battered face. Bulma found herself wanting to tell him about Goku. At least she might be able to offer him some hope. After a moment's consideration, however, she decided not to. She doubted that he would be all that happy to hear about Goku's arrival anyway. Instead, she looked away, switching her focus to the sky, in the general direction of Goku's chi.

She knew that he could land at any minute, but she wasn't sure just when, since he was suppressing his chi to an almost untraceable level, and he was too far away to judge just how long it would take. She looked back over at Team Ginyu again, and she was alarmed to see that Rikuum wasn't up there arguing with Jees and Baata anymore. She scanned around for him, and she saw him dejectedly trudging over toward Gohan. Bulma frantically searched her mind for solutions. She didn't know what to do. She didn't see any way to stall Rikuum, other than the obvious option of direct confrontation. Her strength would most likely give out if she tried to fight him during teleportation again, and she didn't think it was a worthwhile method right now anyway, since it hadn't done all that much damage, and had only succeeded in making him angry. Besides, she needed to stall for as much time as she could, and stopping time wasn't going to accomplish that. There was nothing else to do. She had to fight him. She had one more ace up her sleeve, though, and she decided that now was the time to pull it out. Yamucha had only needed to show her once how to do this for it to take, and it was a very handy technique to know. It was worth a try, she thought.

Bulma braced herself, and with a calculating glance up at the sky to see where the brightest of Namek's suns was, she launched herself at Rikuum with tremendous speed. Being careful not to create the slightest sound, she dashed toward him, forming a diversionary chi ball as she went. She hurled it at his midsection, and as he began to turn around, she teleported to the opposite side of him, whereupon she began punching him in his back, just as he blocked her chi ball. With an exclamation of surprise, he spun around and began blocking her blows.

"You just won't give up, will you?" he laughed, blocking some more of her punches and kicks.

"Not until you do," she snapped, jumping back a bit, and placing her hands - with fingers spread apart wide - on either end of her face. "Taiyoken!" she screamed, sending the brilliant flash of light straight at Rikuum's face. He let out a roar of surprise, and his hands flew to his blinded eyes as he attempted - all too late - to shield them from the brilliant flash.

Bulma wasted no time. She jumped up and delivered an abrupt roundhouse kick to the side of his face. He spun around a couple of times, but somehow he managed to remain on his feet. He curled up defensively as Bulma began to punch at his face. She landed a good one on his jaw and he fell backwards a bit. Instead of righting himself again, however, he pushed off of his feet and did a backward handspring. He then executed some more handsprings and was soon several hundred feet away. Bulma raced after him stealthily, completely aware of what he was up to. If he could get her to chase after him, he might be able to hear her coming, and he just might be able to fight back. She couldn't let that happen. She didn't know when the effects of her taiyoken would wear off, but she had to do as much damage as possible while it lasted, because she knew he'd never give her the opportunity to do it again.

"Rapid teleport!" she snarled, and she watched him screech to an unnatural stop in midair. She walked around to the other side of him and put about twenty feet between herself and him. She then resumed time's flow, and as he sailed towards her, she jumped up, turned a full 180° to the right, drew her left arm forward, and then, just as his back was to hers, she slammed her elbow into the back of his neck. The force of the blow caused him to spin forward instead of backward, not to mention lose a lot of his momentum. As a result, his face smashed into the ground, and then so did the rest of his body. He slid across the rocky dirt for a couple of yards beyond Bulma before coming to a grinding, friction-induced stop.

Bulma quickly floated down to the ground and positioned herself so as to assure the most support for what she was about to do. Rikuum began to groan, and he plunked his hands down into the dirt and started to lift himself up. Bulma had to hurry.

"Ka-me..." she began, fiercely concentrating her chi between the palms of her hands. "...Ha-me..."

Rikuum had, in the meantime, gotten to his feet. He snarled, and as he raised his head, his gaze fell on Bulma.

"_Ha_!" Bulma screamed, letting the blast go. It sped toward Rikuum with the highest speed Bulma could muster. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had gotten him.

Rikuum stepped to the left a bit, and he rammed his right shoulder into the brunt of the blast. Without so much as a grunt, he simply shoved the blast aside, and it sailed off to the right in a graceful arc before landing on a flat plain just less than a mile away, where it exploded in a brilliant flash of light. A few seconds later, the thunderous reverberations of the explosion's shock wave echoed throughout the battlefield, and the ground shook a little as well. Naturally, Bulma wasn't paying any attention to any of these things, however. She was staring, terrified, into the smoldering gaze of the angry giant before her. He had regained his sight already, and he was glaring straight at her with the unmistakable look of murder in his eyes. She stepped back defensively, and she felt a lump form in her throat.

"Oh crap," she thought frantically. "Here it comes."

With lightning speed, Rikuum charged at her like a mad bull. Before Bulma had time to blink, she was flying backwards, staring down at Rikuum's enormous right knee, and she was beginning to feel an excruciating pain in her stomach. She felt like she was moving in slow motion. With a sharp thud, she found herself sprawling face up on the ground. She gagged and curled into the fetal position as her abdominal muscles began to react to the violent blow they had sustained, and a painful fit of coughing soon followed. She quickly planted her palms on the hard-packed ground and jerked her upper body up off the ground as she coughed up a mouthful of blood and spat it out. Gasping for air and wiping the stray blood away from her lips with her arm, she remained where she was for a few more moments in an effort to recover from the stabbing pains in her stomach. She was definitely going to be feeling that hit for a while.

Vegita winced. It was only a matter of time now. He'd tried to warn her, the damn fool, but that stupid girl just had to go and make Rikuum angry with her. Whatever she got, she had brought on herself. He shouldn't have expected anything less moronic from a weakling like her. Still, he found it surprisingly unsavory to watch her destroy herself like that.

Bulma cried out in pain as she struggled to push herself up onto her feet. Her stomach felt like it was on fire. She fell back to her hands and knees in her first failed attempt, gasping as she waited for the pain to subside a little. Still determined, however, she grit her teeth and stubbornly shoved herself up enough to set her feet on the ground. Jerkily, and with a great deal of pain, she pushed herself upright and stumbled clumsily onto her feet.

She glanced around frantically for Rikuum, expecting him to hit her again at any second. She finally spotted him, nearly twenty yards away. He was trotting over toward Kuririn, and she knew that he wasn't headed over there for any friendly visit.

"Damn him!" Bulma hissed, shooting off after him. Her stomach was killing her, but surprisingly enough, the pain was beginning to throb away fairly quickly. Perhaps she had lucked out and he hadn't seriously damaged anything.

She raced after him, running silently and swiftly and brandishing a tightly clenched right fist. She caught up with him and swung violently at the back of his neck, but she found herself swinging through an afterimage. She spun around just in time to have her feet swept out from under her. Before she had even touched the ground, however, Rikuum had grabbed her left ankle and shot skyward with her in tow. She shrieked in surprise and shot an energy blast at him, but he was moving much too quickly for her to even be remotely accurate. She flailed wildly as he rocketed through the air with her, and she called him many unseemly names and epithets. She definitely did not like being dragged around by her foot!

After only a few seconds of flight they had reached the location Rikuum had been shooting for, and Bulma was staring at the upside-down figures of Jees and Baata.

Jees laughed. "Having woman problems, Rikuum?" he snickered, nudging Baata, who began to chuckle. "Do you need us to help you dispose of those two little nuisances down there too? Is that it?"

"Catch!" Rikuum snarled, and he flung Bulma at Jees. She crashed into him so violently that she knocked him over. She was pretty slow about getting up, but Jees immediately disentangled himself from her and leapt to his feet to growl at Rikuum.

"And just what was that for?" he demanded, floating up to be eye-level with Rikuum. "Do you have a problem with me, Rikuum?"

"If you want me to leave her for you, then that's fine with me," Rikuum retorted angrily, "but you'd damned well better keep her away from me, you got that? The next time she pesters me, I'll kill her! I've had enough of her!" With that, he shot away from them, his path taking him toward Gohan.

Bulma watched Rikuum in despair. It was for keeps now; she knew that. She couldn't afford to make another mistake with this guy. She decided she'd run at him from behind, and then she'd teleport to another angle as soon as he turned around. She'd have to fight him like that, staying on the defensive, for as long as she could hold out. That was the only way she'd be able to buy any more time. Her options were all gone. Maybe she'd get lucky and somehow survive long enough to keep him off of the others, at least until Goku arrived.

Deciding it was now or never, she sprang out after Rikuum. She didn't get very far, however, because before she had even taken two steps, Jees had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and the other wrapped just as tightly around her neck.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he laughed as she struggled fiercely against him. "What are you doing?! Do you have a death wish or something? You heard what he said; Rikuum's not kidding around! He really will kill you if you interfere again!"

"You think I'm doing this for my health?" Bulma snapped at him, squirming around violently and clawing viciously at his arms. "When are you jerks gonna get it? I'm not going to let you hurt my friends any more!"

"I'd say it's probably a bit too late for that," Baata chuckled, nodding down at Rikuum, who was looming over Gohan like death itself, with one palm pointed at the incapacitated child.

"No!" Bulma screamed, fighting wildly to free herself from Jees. Her struggles won her no freedom, though, and he only held her all the more tightly. He laughed heartily as she kicked at him with her feet and scratched at his arms with her fingers. It was all in vain, however. No matter how hard she kicked, punched, or clawed at him, he wasn't the slightest bit fazed by her. Bulma glanced despairingly down at Gohan. What was she going to do? She could only watch as Rikuum hesitated for a moment to say something taunting at Vegita, who was glaring at him stonily. Bulma felt like breaking down and crying. It was over. There was nothing else she could do. She wanted to turn her head away so she wouldn't have to watch, but that would be doing Gohan a dishonor.

"Hey Jees," Baata said suddenly, tapping him on the shoulder. "Didn't Freeza say he'd rather blow up this useless bit of dirt than call in for more reinforcements?"

"Yeah," Jees replied, glancing back at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we've got company," Baata said, pointing to the sky off in the distance. Jees turned Bulma to one side so that he could see what Baata was pointing at. Bulma glanced up too. She could just barely make out a small, glowing speck in the sky in that direction.

"That doesn't look like one of ours," Jees said with only mild interest. "Where do you think it came from?"

"Who knows?" Baata said, shrugging. "But we ought to check it out anyway, just to see."

The craft had gotten much closer in the meantime, and it began its descent, suddenly swooping down toward the battlefield. The engines roared loudly as it zoomed overhead. Bulma scrutinized it closely as it passed over them. Upon recognizing the logo on the side, she gasped in surprise. It was the Capsule Corporation emblem! As unmistakable to her as her own father, and there it was, flying above her! It could only mean one thing. Goku had arrived!

She looked back down at Rikuum. He had stopped what he was doing and was watching the ship as it zoomed overhead. He suddenly began running up toward Jees, Baata, and her. He must have been curious as to what was going on. Bulma involuntarily sighed with relief. At least Goku might get a chance to see his son alive for a little while when he got here. Thinking of that really curbed her excitement at seeing him arrive, though.

Rikuum flew up alongside Baata and watched the Capsule Corp. ship land about a half a mile away. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at it. "That's not one of ours, is it?"

They began to discuss what they ought to do about it while Bulma studied the ship carefully. It definitely didn't look like her Namek ship. It was more like an enormous Saiyan space pod. Her dad must've used that design after all. She'd have to ask him about the details involved later. She was definitely interested in finding out why Goku's ship made the trip in only six days while hers arrived in over half a month!

She shot a sidelong glance at Rikuum and Baata. They were both watching the ship, and they had become practically oblivious to her and her friends. She decided she'd take a chance that Jees was doing the same. She suddenly wrenched and twisted herself around in a desperate attempt to break free.

"Whoa! Calm down, now," Jees exclaimed, steadying his grip. "What are you so worked up about?" The arm around her waist tightened to the point where she felt like he was crushing her, and she let out a cry of agony at the excruciating pain this brought her. Maybe Rikuum's attack had done some kind of serious damage after all. Her eyes were watering, but Jees didn't loosen his hold on her.

"Now, you just behave yourself and stay still, love," he said, tickling her ear with his breath and causing her to shudder involuntarily, "and I won't have to get physical with you... yet."

The way he said it made her blood run cold and her breath catch in her throat. She was deathly still then, and the terror he'd instilled in her was painfully obvious on her paled, wide-eyed face.

"Hey, it's opening up!" Rikuum exclaimed suddenly. They all turned their attention toward the door of the spacecraft as it swung down to the ground.

Bulma tried to focus on the opening hatch and suppress the fit of trembling that had begun to plague her. A figure stepped out and levitated up into the air. He slowly made a full 360º turn, and then, as he came to face them, he stopped.

"Son-kun," Bulma said in a sad, wavering voice. "If only you had gotten here fifteen minutes sooner..."

"What?" Jees said. "You know that freak?"

"Yes," Bulma replied. "He's from my planet... but he's a Saiyan. You guys aren't going to have an easy time with him, though. When he sees what you've done to his son, I very much doubt he'll hold anything back."

"A Saiyan?" Baata laughed. "Well now we know there's no cause for worry, don't we?"

Goku was suddenly replaced by a bright red ball of light, and in an instant it had disappeared. The next thing Bulma felt was a sharp, jarring blow to each of Jees' arms. Almost immediately, Jees fell backwards, and she was free. Before she could do anything else, some unknown force had seized her, and she found herself being taken out to the battlefield. She wanted to scream, but she was moving so quickly that the fast-moving air was whipping all the sound away. In no time flat she was just above the ground, and she saw that she was only a few feet away from Kuririn. She looked around, and she discovered to her utter surprise that she was resting comfortably in Goku's arms!

"Hi Bulma!" he greeted her affably. "Glad to see me?"

"_Goku_!" Bulma screamed, hugging him around the neck ferociously. "Dammit, Goku, you scared the hell outta me!"

He laughed mischievously before setting her down and grinning at her. She glanced back at Team Ginyu. Rikuum and Baata were gaping down at them in surprise. Jees was just getting up, and boy did he look ticked!

"Goku, I'm glad you're here," Bulma said, lowering her eyes, "but you're too late. Vegita and Kuririn might live, although Kuririn's iffy, but Gohan's neck is broken, and he's as good as dead. Even if we were able to get him back to Earth alive, he'd be a vegetable for the rest of his life. I'm so, so sorry! If I had acted just a little bit earlier than I did, it might have turned out differently! It's all my fault!"

"Aw, don't worry about Gohan," Goku said, smiling reassuringly at her. "He'll be fine. Here, give this to Kuririn. I'll take care of Gohan." He held out a small bean in the palm of his hand. Bulma gaped at it in disbelief for a second before she could regain the ability to speak.

"Is that what I think it is?" she gasped, barely daring to believe her eyes.

"Yep," he said, nodding happily. "It's a Sensu bean. Go ahead and give it to Kuririn while I give one to Gohan."

Nodding at him as the tears welled up in her eyes, she took the precious bean from him and flew down to Kuririn's side. Her hands were shaking so hard she was afraid she might drop the precious restorative.

"Hey Bulma," Kuririn said feebly. "I must be hearing things. I just heard Goku tell you to give me a Sensu bean. How crazy is that?"

"About as crazy as this," Bulma choked, laughing and crying at the same time. She somehow managed to poke the bean in Kuririn's mouth, despite her trembling hands. His eyes opened wide as he recognized the taste. He chewed furiously, and as he swallowed it, Bulma could already sense the change taking place inside of him. With a sigh of relief, he picked himself up off of the ground and looked at Bulma with an elated grin. It was too much for her. Covering her mouth with one hand, she hunched over a little as she began to sob, the tears of relief streaming freely from her eyes. She thought she'd never be able to see Kuririn stand up like this again.

"Hey, come on now," Kuririn cried, patting her back with a comforting touch as she shook and convulsed with emotion. "Get a hold of yourself, Bulma! How are we gonna do our happy dance if you're blubbering like that?"

She let out a cross between a laugh and a hiccup, and with a merry grin, he grabbed her hands and pulled her into a lively jig. She made no effort to hide her tears of joy as they danced, and they only stopped celebrating when they felt the unmistakable sensation of Gohan's chi being revitalized.

"Gohan!" Bulma shrieked suddenly, and they both turned around, just in time to see the young boy leap joyfully into his father's arms. Laughing, they ran over to join them, and Vegita just looked on in disgusted disbelief.

"Man, Goku," Kuririn said, grinning from ear to ear. "You sure know how to make us wait. Thank Kami you got here when you did!"

"Oh, I don't know," Goku said, chuckling and tousling Gohan's hair. "I'll bet you guys could have held your own for a while longer."

"No," Kuririn said soberly. "Gohan and I got knocked out of it right after Vegita did. It was all Bulma could do to keep that Rikuum off of us, but she knew you were coming, Goku. When she told me she could sense you were on your way and that you'd be here soon, I didn't dare believe it, but here you are!"

"Yeah, I figured that at least one of you would pick up that little signal. I figured I'd let you know I was almost here. But I don't understand, Kuririn; I thought that Vegita was on their side. Why did they beat him up too?"

"Let's just say that a common enemy has made us temporary allies," Bulma said, sighing and rubbing away what was left of her stray tears on the back of her arm. "It turns out Freeza wanted Vegita dead even before we got here. I think Vegita was rebelling against him or something like that."

"Yeah," Kuririn agreed. "God, Goku! Everything's been crazy up here! There's so much that we have to tell you that I don't know where to begin!"

"I've got an idea that will save us a lot of time!" Goku said brightly, snapping his fingers. "Let me try this!" He put his hand on Kuririn's head. Kuririn looked up at him in confusion for a couple of seconds, but before he could say a word, Goku had withdrawn his hand, and he was nodding his head in an understanding way.

"Man, you guys _have_ been through a lot, huh?" he said, fishing around in the little pouch that was attached to his belt.

"What just happened?" Kuririn said, flabbergasted. "Don't tell me _you_ can read minds!"

"Yep," Goku replied, smiling at him and fishing out another Sensu bean from the pouch. He then tossed the empty pouch to the ground. "That's something I figured out during my training on the way up here. I remembered the way Kaio-sama did it to me, and it just clicked. I guess training at a hundred times Earth's gravity really makes you remember stuff."

"A hundred times?!" Bulma squeaked, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. "You mean to tell me that you worked all the way up to 100 g's in less than a week, Goku?!"

"Sure did," Goku replied, scratching his head. "And it was pretty rough at first, too, but I got the hang of it. I'll hafta thank your dad when we get back, Bulma."

Bulma smiled and shook her head. Goku never ceased to amaze her. "Someone oughta write a song about him," she thought to herself. Gravity training, huh? That was an interesting concept. Maybe she'd have to try that out when she got back home, if she survived, that is.

Goku looked thoughtfully at the Sensu in his hand. "Hey Bulma," he said suddenly. "What kind of shape are you in? You're not hurt badly, are you?"

"Nah," she said, wiping some dirt off her gi and gingerly feeling the tender place on her middle where Rikuum had kneed her. "I'm a little tired I guess, but I lucked out again somehow. What're you going to do with that Sensu bean, Goku? I'd say that it'd be a waste on me right now."

"Okay then," was all he said in reply. He turned around and faced Vegita. "Yo, Vegita!" he called out to him. "Catch!" He tossed the Sensu bean to Vegita, who caught it and looked at it the way someone might look at a dead cockroach.

"Eat it, Vegita!" Goku told him. Vegita glanced up at him distrustfully a couple of times before finally putting it in his mouth and eating it.

"Um... Goku?" Bulma said, watching Vegita's eyes open wide as the Sensu began to take effect. "Are you sure that was a good idea? What if he turns against us? Vegita's gotten a lot stronger, and I mean a _lot_."

"Don't worry," Goku said, winking at her. "So have I. But that's beside the point. If it hadn't been for Vegita, Gurudo would have killed all of you guys. I figured we owed him one."

Bulma wasn't so sure that she agreed with him, but it didn't really matter now. Vegita was now completely healed, so whatever was going to happen was going to happen.

Suddenly Rikuum leapt down off the hill and ran out in front of them. "Hey you!" he yelled at Goku. "I don't know who you are, but you just got yourself in a world of trouble!"

"Is that so?" Goku said, grinning with confidence.

"Be careful, Goku," Bulma said, glaring at Rikuum. "He's the reason why Kuririn, Gohan, and even Vegita got the crap kicked out of them."

"Yeah, be careful, Goku," Rikuum taunted him, sneering at Bulma. "I don't care that you're a Saiyan, either. Everyone knows that Vegita's the strongest one of all of you brainless apes, and I didn't even break a sweat with him!"

"Well maybe I'm an exception," Goku said, frowning suddenly, "because I'm not afraid of you. Compared to me, you're as weak as a baby."

Rikuum started visibly at that bold statement. So did Bulma. What was Goku saying? It wasn't his way to bluff. Just how powerful did he think he was? More importantly, just how powerful _was_ he? She didn't know, but she was dying to find out!


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Just Desserts**

Bulma eyed Rikuum warily. He was at his max right now, which was an extreme level of ability - a fact that made her even more amazed by how calm Goku was. She just couldn't explain why, but it seemed as if Goku was undaunted by this giant and was completely confident that he could defeat him. Bulma sighed happily. Somehow she was able to find reassurance and peace in Goku's calm demeanor. Perhaps Rikuum had simply turned out to be another Nappa for Goku to beat the stuffings out of.

"Goku," Bulma said quietly, deciding that he knew what he was doing. "Would you like for us to give you some space? If you want to take over, then we won't stay in your way."

"Yes, Bulma, I think that would be best," Goku said, looking down at her and smiling kindly. "Besides, you guys deserve a break after all you've been through. Just leave things to me. I won't lose."

She nodded, and so did Gohan and Kuririn. They had all decided that Goku probably knew what he was doing, and in any event, they wouldn't be all that much help to him right now anyway. Bulma led the way for Gohan and Kuririn, and they flew to the top of a nearby hill that promised an excellent view of the impending battle. Bulma could hardly contain her excitement. She beamed happily at the guys, and they beamed right back at her. They couldn't wait to see Rikuum finally get the pounding he deserved!

Rikuum must have decided it was time to draw attention back to himself. He made a short introduction, and he then struck another one of his ridiculous poses.

Goku gaped at him in confusion for a couple of seconds, and then he scratched his head. Maybe he hadn't remembered any of this from Kuririn's memory.

"Can you guys believe it?" Bulma asked excitedly. "It's like we've been given a second chance! I keep expecting someone to pinch me, and having all this melt away into another nightmare!"

"Yeah!" Gohan exclaimed. "Doesn't Daddy look great? You can tell he's been training really hard!"

"I'm definitely glad Goku's here," Kuririn said, crossing his arms and looking at the ground thoughtfully. "But this doesn't solve all our problems, guys."

"You mean the fact that Freeza still has the dragonballs, right?" Bulma asked. "I was just thinking about that, myself."

"Exactly," he replied, nodding. "But to tell you the truth, I really don't think Freeza's used them yet."

"Because the planet hasn't been destroyed?" Bulma asked him.

"Well, there's that, I guess," he laughed. "But also, nothing's happened to signify that the Namek Shenlon's been summoned yet. The sky hasn't darkened at all, for one thing. Do you think maybe Freeza doesn't know how to use dragonballs?"

"Let's hope so," Gohan said. "We'll need every advantage we can get."

They all nodded in solemn agreement, and then they turned their attention to Goku and Rikuum. Rikuum was done posing. He and Goku were in fighting stances and were about to begin. One strange thing that Bulma noticed right away was that Goku's battle power was extremely low. Oh, he looked confident enough, but Bulma knew as well as anyone that it took a little time to charge up one's chi before attacking, and the intensity that Goku was exhibiting was astronomically lower than what he'd need to work up to in order to fight a guy like Rikuum. Could he possibly be underestimating Rikuum's speed? Surely Goku wouldn't make such a careless mistake!

Suddenly Rikuum darted forward, and with cruel precision and speed, he swung his right fist at Goku's left side. If she'd had time for prediction, Bulma would have guessed that Goku would come in contact with with Rikuum's fist, whether by blocking it, or by being hit. Either way, she would have been wrong. Almost magically, it seemed, neither of these things occurred, and Rikuum's fist actually appeared to sweep through the unmoving Goku as if he were a hologram! Rikuum let out an exclamation of surprise, and he tried punching Goku in the face. Once again, it appeared as if Rikuum's fist just passed unhindered through Goku's image!

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan shared a gasp of surprise. How was Goku doing that? His movements were so fast that they weren't even be able to pick him up, whether by sight or by chi sense!

Of course, Rikuum was surprised too. He was furiously throwing punches and kicks at Goku from every angle - all of which sharing the results of the ones before - and he was beginning to get frustrated. Not once did the expression on Goku's face change, either. At any rate, Rikuum worked himself frantic, and it wasn't long before he had to back off to catch his breath and gape angrily at Goku.

"Speedy little devil, aren't you?" he panted, grinning at him. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to fight fire with fire, won't I?"

Goku frowned disapprovingly. "You know," he said, looking steadily at Rikuum, "it's not too late for you to change your mind. I promise that no harm will come to you if you leave quietly. You'll only get hurt if you keep this up."

Rikuum chuckled sinisterly. "Oh, you'd like me to give up, wouldn't you?" he said slyly, curling his upper lip into a sneer. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, runt, but I'm only just beginning!" He then proceeded to charge up his chi, and Bulma could see that Rikuum was going to go all out on this one. He was crouched way down low, and his aura was crackling like a fireworks display.

Bulma wasn't so sure of what she should expect anymore. She was sure of this much, however: if Goku could move as quickly as he had been, without even showing the slightest sign of fatigue, then Rikuum was going to have to really take him by surprise to land a good hit. She didn't know what he was up to, but he was definitely building up to something big.

"All right, Zippy!" Rikuum bellowed, finally reaching his peak. "You wanna see speed? Well, don't be too surprised if you miss this!"

Goku remained where he was, unsmiling, and he watched Rikuum almost disinterestedly. With one final triumphant grin, Rikuum disappeared, and then, almost instantly, he reappeared again, only about half of the way to Goku. The place where he had taken off began to cloud up with all the dirt and pebbles he'd knocked loose, but this went unnoticed. All eyes were on Rikuum, who was hunched over unnaturally, his mouth agape and his neck stretched far out in front of him. Bulma gasped as a figure in red stepped out from underneath the lumbering giant and pulled his elbow back. He had taken Rikuum out with a single elbow jab to the ribs!

With a strange gurgling sound, Rikuum dropped to his knees, and then he fell forward, landing flat on his face, with his arms spread out behind and his rear sticking up.

"Good God!" Kuririn gasped, shaking visibly. "Did you see that? With one hit, yet!"

"Yeah!" Gohan breathed excitedly. "I can't believe my dad has gotten this good so fast!"

Bulma looked down at Vegita. He had his usual scowl on his face, but it was combined with a look of angry astonishment. He ground his teeth with contempt, and he clenched his fists as he glared at Goku. He was obviously not pleased to see just how powerful Goku had become. Bulma wondered if it would be a wise idea to make Vegita immortal after all. If he'd be able to kill Freeza, then he'd be able to kill Goku too. They wouldn't be able to wish him back if that happened - not with the earth's dragonballs, at least. She could see by the hatred and envy in his eyes that it wouldn't take much to tempt Vegita to kill Goku if he got the chance.

Would they really need Vegita? After seeing Goku just now, she wasn't so sure. Maybe Goku could defeat Freeza on his own. If that was the case, then it would be pure foolishness to give Vegita such an advantage. Bulma nudged Kuririn.

"Huh?" Kuririn said, turning to the side. "What is it, Bulma?" he asked.

"I've been thinking, guys," she began, "and I've come to the conclusion that we'd better not make Vegita immortal after all. If he could kill Freeza, then he could kill Goku. Besides, Goku's a lot stronger than we'd ever dreamed he'd be. Maybe he could take care of Freeza after all. Maybe we won't even need Vegita!"

Gohan nodded eagerly. "I was thinking that same thing," he said. "Do you suppose we'd be able to get to the dragonballs without Vegita tagging along?"

"I kind of doubt it," Kuririn said unhappily.

"Well," Bulma said, trying to remain positive. "If we can, then I say we should have three wishes ready, because we may have to make them in a short amount of time."

"That's good thinking," Kuririn said, nodding in agreement. "Well, we already know what the first should be, right?"

"Yeah," Bulma replied. "We'll use the first to wish our friends back to life. And I think that we should use the second one to wish all the Nameks back to life. They didn't deserve to be killed by Freeza."

"I agree with that," Kuririn said, nodding emphatically. "That would definitely be a good wish. How about the third?"

"I don't know," Bulma replied. "I was hoping you guys had some ideas."

"Well," Gohan began, "maybe we should wish all the Nameks to a safer place. Freeza could always kill them all off again if they stay here."

"Good point," Bulma muttered, a little peeved that her wish had a flaw. "Where could we wish them to?"

"How about earth?" Kuririn said. "I'll bet that Kami would watch over them while we were gone. At least there they wouldn't be alone."

"Well then, that's it!" Bulma exclaimed. "We have our wishes! Now all we have to do is get to the dragonballs. As soon as this battle is over we'll have to get right to it. Don't say a word to Vegita, though. We'll have to find some way to stall him while we're gone. Any ideas?"

"Yeah," Kuririn said, pointing to the battlefield below and laughing nervously. "Let's have Goku beat him up."

They laughed and focused their attention back to the events below. Now it was Jees and Baata's turn, and they'd decided to work together against Goku. Apparently he'd worried them by defeating Rikuum so easily. Bulma smiled. She was really glad to see that Goku had them scared. She hoped he would pop Jees a good one for her.

Suddenly Jees and Baata took off toward Goku, with Jees' red aura and Baata's blue one trailing ostentatiously behind them. Goku remained where he was, with the same stern expression on his face. Jees and Baata zoomed down toward him, but when they got close enough to take a shot at him, instead of attacking, they each shot off in a separate direction. Then they turned sharply, and they shot toward him again, this time only one at a time. Once again, they each darted away when they reached him. Thus it continued, and all the while Goku remained unmoving and seemed practically oblivious to them. Perhaps that was why they were acting so strangely, Bulma mused silently. They might be waiting for Goku to make the first move. They certainly seemed to be confused, judging from their angry, frustrated facial expressions.

Suddenly Jees flung a small but fairly potent chi blast at Goku. It shot down swiftly, reaching Goku in less than a second. Instead of hitting him, it sailed right through him, just as Rikuum's punches had done before. This agitated Jees and Baata considerably, and they stopped zooming around. They each landed on the ground, about a hundred yards away from Goku, on opposite sides of him. After nodding at each other, they began firing off a long series of chi blasts at Goku. Despite the fact that they were firing them off so rapidly that Bulma was having trouble discerning where one ended and the next began, not one of them exploded until they had reached the ground far beyond Goku, which meant he was dodging every one. Strangely enough, no one was able to see or sense his movements, so it still appeared as if Goku was just a holographic image down there. Jees and Baata continued their barrage of chi blasts for several more seconds before they finally figured out that they weren't accomplishing anything. They shot up in the air and Jees said something to Baata. He grinned and nodded in reply, and Jees turned back down toward Goku.

"There's no way you'll be able to dodge this!" Jees yelled down at him. "But in any event, prepare yourself as best as you can for our ultimate technique - The Purple Comet Crash!"

Jees and Baata began to power up, and finally Goku did something different. He turned to face Jees and Baata, and Bulma felt a slight intensification of his chi.

By now, Jees and Baata had totally disappeared inside red and blue orbs of chi. Suddenly they shot toward each other, and when they collided, their auras began to swirl around and combine, until all that could be seen was a purple maelstrom of energy. Suddenly this swirling mass began launching a long, fast stream of powerful chi blasts at Goku. He stayed right where he was, however, and Bulma could sense a dramatic rise in the intensity of his chi. Suddenly Goku began to scream, and a compact hemisphere of chi energy materialized around him. The fast stream of chi blasts connected with it almost instantly, and, through sheer chi energy, Goku blocked every blast that touched his barrier. Most of them exploded on impact, but a few survived the barrier by ricocheting off in other directions before slamming into various obstacles about the battlefield.

One of them whizzed up at Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan, and each of them threw a separate blast to meet it. The four blasts collided in midair and exploded loudly. They looked at each other and laughed nervously. That had almost been a little too close!

Jees and Baata soon discovered that their attack wasn't having the desired effect, so they disconnected and gaped down at Goku in astonishment. He had blocked their signature attack! They didn't gape for long, however. Screaming furiously, they shot down at Goku and began fighting him at the same time. Bulma was almost sure she saw a hint of a grin on his face as Goku effortlessly blocked and dodged the fierce barrage of punches and kicks they administered. They worked their way to either side of him, trying in vain to get a good hit in. Suddenly Goku disappeared, but Baata and Jees were still going, and before they could stop themselves, they had punched each other in the face!

"Watch it!" Jees shouted angrily. "You're not supposed to hit me, you damn fool!"

"Watch yourself!" Baata spat back at him. "That was no love tap you gave me, you know!"

"Wait a minute!" Jees said suddenly, turning around to see Goku watching them with an amused grin some twenty yards away. "What the hell are we doing? We aren't supposed to fight each other! He's the enemy!" Jees motioned for Baata to lean in closer, and he began to talk more quietly.

"What do you suppose they're up to now?" Gohan said with interest, unconsciously leaning forward in an effort to hear them better.

"I don't know, but man, that was great!" Bulma exclaimed, laughing happily. "Goku hasn't touched them once, but they each have a bloody nose already!"

Kuririn laughed. "I just don't get it," he said. "Goku just trained for 6 days, right?"

"Yeah, that's how long it took the ship to get here, anyway," Bulma said, nodding. "But even if he trained nonstop the whole way here, I still don't see how he could improve so much so fast. It's times like these that make me really glad he's on our side."

"Well, at least now we can be pretty sure Goku's got this fight won, right?" Kuririn said excitedly. "We'd better not question it; just be glad he turned out to be as powerful as he is."

"Yeah," Gohan and Bulma breathed excitedly. They suddenly caught sight of Baata and Jees again, who shot back down to the ground and flanked Goku on either side.

"Hey, freak," Jees snarled at him. "What's with you, anyway? Why don't you attack us? Is dodging the only thing you can do?"

Goku remained silent, but he gazed at Jees attentively. Goku's silence was obviously annoying Jees. He stepped a few menacing paces more closely, growling with contempt at the stoic Saiyan.

"What's wrong with you?" he persisted angrily. "Can't you speak anymore?"

Goku didn't answer him. Jees had had enough.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. "I've had it with this! If you don't attack right now, I'm gonna fly up to that hill and start pickin' your friends off, one by one!" He pointed at Bulma and the boys as his chi flared in emphasis.

Suddenly, Goku appeared in front of Jees and punched him squarely in the face. Bulma heard a strange crunch as Goku's fist connected with Jees' nose.

Jees fell backward from the shock, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet. "What the _fuck_?!" he yelled shrilly, grabbing his bloody nose. Goku had really caught him by surprise! "Damn you, you freak! You broke my nose! You've damaged my beautiful face!"

Goku shot him a look of sincere astonishment. "I thought you meant you were ready. Didn't you want me to attack?" he asked apologetically, cocking his head to one side with a look of concern on his face.

"No! Yes! I mean... shut up!" Jees stuttered, suddenly at a loss for words. He glared at Goku in frustration as he wiped no small amount of blood from his nose and upper lip.

"Don't worry, Jees; I'll get him for you!" Baata yelled, leaping at Goku. Goku flew backwards, keeping well out of his reach, but Baata kept right after him.

"Forget it!" he yelled after Goku. "I'm the fastest fighter in the universe! There's no way you can outrun me!"

Grinning, Goku turned around and really began to fly. He shot up into the air with blinding speed, and surprisingly, Baata was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with him, despite the fact that he did appear to be working a little harder than Goku was. They sped up even more, and by now, Bulma was having a considerable bit of trouble following them with her eyes. Whenever they turned a sharp corner, she saw a clearer image, but at any other time she couldn't make them out. She concentrated on them fiercely until she was able to see the bright streaks of the chi trails they were leaving just behind them in their flight. Suddenly they flew down toward the ground below, and Baata was right on Goku's heels.

What happened next was never seen by anyone but Goku. At what seemed to be the very instant that he touched the ground, Goku was standing completely erect, with one fist extended high in the air, and with Baata balancing precariously on his stomach above it. Baata's arms, legs, and neck lurched downward, and the violent crack that reached Bulma's ears a few seconds later made her aware of the fact that Goku's punch had pierced Baata's armor. Baata fell limp after that, and Goku balanced him on his fist for a second or two more before tossing him at Jees' feet.

"Still want to fight?" he asked him coldly. "I'd leave now if I were you. You won't win either way, but you'll have your health if you get outta here now. Besides," he added as he shot a quick glance at both Rikuum and Baata, "your friends aren't going to be doing anymore fighting. You might as well get them some medical attention."

Jees gaped at Baata in astonished terror for a couple of seconds, and then he stared at Goku. He gulped, backed up a few steps, and then shot off in the direction of Freeza's compound. Goku stared at him in surprise for a few moments as he scratched his head.

"Why'd he leave his friends here like this?" he asked himself, staring after him in astonishment. Then, after shrugging, he looked up at Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn for the first time since his fighting had begun. He laughed and made a "V" with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, flashing them a broad grin. It was over. They raced down to congratulate Goku as Vegita did his best to ignore the whole lot of them.

"Goku, that was amazing!" Bulma cried, laughing and putting him in a playful headlock when she reached him. "You didn't even break a sweat!"

Goku laughed and gave her a playful shove, knocking her off of him. He scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Aw, they weren't so bad," he said. "But I think I scared that little red guy pretty bad. He just left his buddies here and took off! I'm glad that he got the picture, but he could've at least taken these two with him!" Bulma just smiled and shook her head while Gohan and Kuririn laughed along with Goku.

All at once Bulma frowned and focused her senses on Freeza's compound, realizing that Jees was high-tailing it back in that direction. Now that she had time to consider it more freely, she didn't really think that letting Jees get away was a laughing matter. Goku was too naïve to see that he wasn't going to become another Piccolo. These guys were on a different plane of thinking altogether. Besides, there was still that Captain Ginyu to deal with – not to mention Freeza.

They were suddenly interrupted by a loud blast behind them. Bulma spun around to see a small crater on the ground where Rikuum had been, and was just in time to see the same thing happen to Baata. As the dust cleared, Vegita strode coolly over to them, glaring with contempt at Goku.

"What was that for, Vegita?" Goku demanded angrily. "They were no longer a threat to you."

"You wouldn't feel the same way about them if you had even the slightest idea of the enormous number of entire civilizations they'd destroyed," Vegita jeered at him. "Besides, I don't give a damn if they were helpless. I don't think like you, Kakkorot. I have the brain of a true warrior, while you, on the other hand, don't even deserve your Saiyan birthright. You're a disgrace to the entire Saiyan race, you fool! If you think you can defeat Freeza with such a mollycoddling attitude, then you deserve the death that awaits you! For this fight, Kakkorot, you'll have to stop acting and thinking like an Earthling, and start being a Saiyan! Now, do you think that pebble-sized brain of yours can comprehend what I'm telling you?"

"Sorry, Vegita," Goku said, frowning at him, "but that's not the way I live, and it's not the way I fight. You'll just have to accept that, because it's not going to change."

"Quit spouting nonsense!" Vegita spat vehemently. "You've already caused me enough trouble by letting that other Ginyu member get away! He's gone off to get his captain, or possibly even Freeza, and in either case that's more than I care to deal with right now! Don't you get it yet? You can't handle these bastards so foolishly! You're going to get us all killed, and I, for one, refuse to permit it!"

"Much as I hate to say it, Goku," Bulma interjected, frowning at Vegita, "I think Vegita has just made a very good point. You can't just give these guys second chances like this. They're much too powerful and cunning, and if you give them that kind of advantage, they'll use it to double-cross you at every opportunity. These guys aren't like Piccolo. They aren't going to see the light and change their ways if you defeat them and let them live. They're going to kill you when your back is turned, and they'll be laughing the entire time. We can't afford to take these kinds of chances, Goku - not this time. Way too much is riding on this."

Gohan and Kuririn, although surprised at first that she had taken Vegita's side on something, were by now nodding their heads in agreement. They could see the sense in Bulma's words, even if they _had_ been inspired by one of Vegita's ideas. They had already seen Freeza and his henchmen in action on this planet, and Team Ginyu was bound to be just as ruthless.

Goku retained his determined frown, but when he looked down at Bulma he softened slightly. "Bulma," he said firmly, looking her staunchly in the eyes, "it has always been my way to give everyone a second chance. I can't help being the way that I am. Don't forget that Piccolo wasn't the only one who changed his ways, either. Tenshinhan and Yamucha turned over new leaves too. Don't worry, Bulma. Just because I may let some of our enemies get away doesn't mean that I've let my guard down. I just believe in giving them an opportunity to change for the better. I know you understand that."

Bulma sighed and shook her head. She knew there was no use in arguing the point any further. Goku was just too optimistic to see what these people were really like, and he probably wouldn't see it until something really terrible happened.

"Well, then I wash my hands of you!" Vegita exclaimed contemptuously. "I've no use for a Saiyan who treasures such idiocy. You do what you want, Kakkorot. I'll only tell you this one time, however: I'm going to get my hands on the dragonballs and wish myself immortal. Then I'm going to kill Freeza. If you and your little friends want to stay healthy, I'd suggest you all stay the hell out of my way!"

"Maybe you should worry about Captain Ginyu before you go after Freeza," Bulma said grimly.

"What're you talking about?" Kuririn said, not quite sure why Captain Ginyu had been brought up all of the sudden. "Is he coming already?"

"He's already here," Goku said, glancing at the two figures in the sky above them.

Kuririn gulped. Ginyu was there all right, and so was Jees. He glanced over at Bulma, who was staring up at them with a scowl that rivaled even Vegita's in terms of disgust. Those guys really must have rubbed her the wrong way.

"Kuririn. Gohan. Bulma," Goku said, keeping his eyes on Jees and Ginyu. "I want you three to go on ahead and see if you can find the dragonballs. I imagine they're still at Freeza's place, and he's nowhere near it right now. Vegita and I will take care of these two. What do you say, Vegita?" Goku said, turning in the direction of the other Saiyan. "Do you feel up to it?"

Vegita smirked. "Just stay out of my way," he said. "I could beat these two with my eyes closed if I wanted, but I don't want to hear a peep out of you. Your voice irritates me."

"Fine, Vegita," Goku said. "If you think you can handle them, you can have first crack at 'em."

Bulma knew what Goku was up to. He was going to keep Vegita here so he could keep an eye on him while they grabbed the dragonballs. The only thing she didn't like about this plan was that Vegita was cooperating with it so well. She was pretty sure he was smart enough to catch on to what she had about Goku's offer, and the fact that it didn't seem to bother him at all made her suspicious. But if they were going to leave, they had to do it now. Captain Ginyu and Jees were making their descent.

"C'mon, guys," Bulma said, floating up into the air. "Goku's right. Now's our chance to get the dragonballs away from Freeza. I doubt that he'll leave them unprotected for long."

Gohan and Kuririn nodded, and they floated up alongside her. They said a quick goodbye to Goku and shot off at high speed.

"I hope they won't follow us," Bulma muttered, shuddering in revulsion at the memory of Jees and his cocky, grinning face. "Let's fly on for a few more minutes to make sure, and then we need to land for a few seconds. I need to get my dragon radar out of the travel bag capsule I put it in, and I can't do that in mid-flight."

"Gotcha," Kuririn said, giving her a thumbs-up. Then they flew in silence for a while, each thinking the same thing. Gohan was the first to speak.

"Um, do you guys think my dad'll be okay?" he asked. "I feel kinda funny about leaving him with Vegita and those other two."

"I think your dad knows what he's doing," Kuririn replied, carefully choosing his words, "but I've got to be honest with you Gohan; I have my doubts too. We don't really know just how strong Ginyu is. There's just no telling how strong your dad is either, though. I don't know, kid. Let's just trust your father to take care of himself. He's been doing a pretty good job of it so far, at least!"

"Hey guys," Bulma said. "I don't think we're being followed. Let's stop somewhere inconspicuous down there and get out the dragon radar."

"Okay Bulma," Kuririn said, scanning the ground. "Let's stop off in that grove of trees down there. They'll offer us some cover."

They shot down into the small group of trees and waited patiently for Bulma to take out her dragon radar. Bulma knelt down to get the capsule case out of her boot, and she drew in a sharp breath. She was still pretty sore from that fight with Rikuum, and bending over had reminded her of it. She was definitely glad that whole ordeal was over with. She was pretty worn out, but she could have been a lot worse off; that was for sure. After recapsulizing the bag after she'd retrieved her radar, she stuffed the capsule back in its place in her capsule case.

As she was refastening the flap on her boot, Bulma had the uncanny feeling that there was someone following them. She turned around abruptly, startling Kuririn and Gohan.

"What is it, Bulma?" Gohan asked. She held up her hand for silence and concentrated. After a few moments, she shook her head and got up again.

"I could have sworn that I sensed someone over that way," she said, pointing about ninety degrees left of the direction of the battlefield. "Nothing's there now, though. It must have been my imagination."

Gohan and Kuririn focused their senses in the direction to which she'd pointed, but they couldn't sense anything either. "Just the same," Kuririn remarked as they flew out of the cover of the trees to leave, "let's all be on guard. Maybe it was your imagination, Bulma, but we can't afford to take the chance that it wasn't. Let us know if you sense anything again."

"You know; it's strange," Gohan said as they took off again for Freeza's compound. "Your chi sense has become really sensitive, Bulma. I wonder why that is?"

"Well," she began, folding her arms and looking down at the ground flying by beneath her, "being able to sense the location of my opponent at all times was the very first thing that Yamucha began to teach me. I was able to sense chi long before I learned how to fly. I guess it gets better with time and usage. Besides, I haven't had all the rigorous strength training that you guys have. I guess that instead of training my body more, I've spent most of my time using my mind techniques. Chi sense goes along with it. Really, though, I think that's my greatest flaw. Yamucha told me long ago that a truly skilled fighter has a well-defined balance of physical and mental strength. If we ever make it back to earth, I'm going to go straight to work on the physical part."

They were silent then. Would they get home again? Things did look a bit bleak, even with Goku there. Freeza was monstrously powerful, and even Goku might not be able to handle him. If only they could get to the dragonballs, however, all that could change!

"Hey Bulma," Kuririn said. "So, what does the dragon radar show? Are we going in the right direction?"

"Yep," she answered, zooming the screen in some more. "The dragonballs are definitely all up there at Freeza's compound. I wonder how many soldiers he has guarding them?"

"Hey!" Gohan exclaimed. "How about teleporting us there, Bulma? We'd get there a lot faster, and you could punch out the guards before you restarted time! What do you think about that?"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Kuririn said excitedly. "How about it, Bulma?"

Sighing, she shook her head dejectedly. "Sorry guys," she replied. "The thought had occurred to me too, but I'm too weak from my fight with Rikuum to try that. I'm pretty sure I could do it without any problems, but I'd be pretty useless if something else came up after that. Let's just fly there. I'd rather save my energy in case we have to make a quick getaway."

"Oh, that's right!" Kuririn said, suddenly sorry he'd asked. "You didn't have a Sensu bean, did you, Bulma? No wonder you don't feel up to it! Well, that's okay. You just point us in the right direction, and we'll take care of the rest! Right Gohan?" He shot Gohan a thumbs-up, and Gohan nodded, his face the very image of determination.

Bulma smiled. Kuririn could be a bit overprotective at times, but she wouldn't have traded him for anything else in the world. "No way!" she said, grinning at him. "I'm not out of it yet, pal! If you think you're gonna hog all the bad guys, you've got another thing coming!" She grabbed Kuririn by one of his legs and flung him skyward. He cried aloud in surprise, and she shot up after him and began kicking at him playfully.

"Okay! Okay!" Kuririn laughed, pretending to be overcome by her awesome power. "I get the picture!"

Gohan was laughing at them and clutching at his middle, and pretty soon they were both doing the same. Bulma kept laughing after they had finished, and she laughed until she cried. Then she kept crying. Before long she was crying so hard that she was having difficulty flying.

"Hey, Bulma, are you okay?" Kuririn said worriedly. "What's wrong?" She shook her head and covered her face with her hands. She wavered unsteadily in the air, and Kuririn and Gohan each grabbed one of her arms to help hold her up. She tried to laugh, but it only came out as a combination between a hiccup and a sob.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she wailed, shaking her head from side to side and trying to restrain a fresh stream of sobs as they made their way to the surface. "I'm so sorry! Everything's so messed up, you know? I just don't know what to think anymore! God, I'm so ashamed of myself!"

"Don't worry, Bulma," Kuririn said, his voice soothing and calm as he rubbed her reassuringly on the back. "It's okay. We've all been through a hell of a lot today. This is just your way of dealing with it. It's no wonder your emotions are running haywire, anyway! When was the last time you got any sleep?"

Bulma looked up at him. "I guess you could count the time I spent in Freeza's rejuvenation tank," she sniffed, beginning to regain her composure somewhat.

Kuririn stared at her, and she stared back. Suddenly they laughed, and Bulma wiped her eyes dry. "Well, you guys haven't had _any_ sleep!" she exclaimed, straightening up and pulling away so she could fly on her own. "You're even worse off than I am, and I don't see you two blubbering like a couple of babies!"

"Well, actually, the Sensu took care of our exhaustion too," Kuririn said, shrugging. "Don't worry about us. We're fine."

"I guess I'm okay now," she said, sighing. "Sorry, guys. That won't happen again. I guess I just kind of lost it there."

They smiled. "It's okay, Bulma," Gohan said. "Do you feel any better?"

"Actually, yes!" she laughed in surprise. "I feel a lot better! I guess I just needed a good cry." She scratched the back of her head and laughed good-naturedly, and they laughed with her. She finally convinced them that she was ready to resume their flight to Freeza's compound, and they took off again. As she concentrated on the dragon radar, Bulma felt very happy to have companions who were so willing to put up with her like Kuririn and Gohan did. As they raced toward Freeza's compound, she swore to herself that even if it meant her own life, she'd get these two safely back to Earth. Freeza wasn't going to lay one scaly finger on them!


	29. Chapter 29

_Author's Warning: This chapter is a pivotal point in the relationship between Bulma and Vegita, as well as between her and men in general. I'm giving you a warning now, however, because it contains a very disturbing scene that most normal people would find, at the very least, unpleasant to read. It is this scene that has prompted the rating I've chosen for my story, but it is critical to the character development I've envisioned. In my former version of this story, I didn't elaborate on it at all, out of fear of sounding trite, as well as lack of self-confidence in my ability to accurately portray the emotions of the characters involved. Now I feel better equipped, although not as well as I'd have liked even then, so I'm going to give it a better shot. You've been warned. Scary stuff ahead, and all that jazz._

**Chapter 29: I'd Rather Die!**

After a good half-hour's worth of flying, they found themselves just outside of Freeza's compound. Not a single henchman was to be found, which really surprised Bulma, considering the fact that the radar was showing that the dragonballs were all within the immediate vicinity.

"Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud. "I know Freeza had tons of soldiers in there when I was here earlier, but I can't sense a single one now."

"Do you think they could be with Freeza, wherever he went?" Gohan asked hopefully.

"No," Kuririn replied, shaking his head. "Freeza would have left someone behind to watch over the dragonballs; I'm sure of that. Something must've happened."

"Well, let's just get the dragonballs and summon the dragon while we can," Bulma said, looking around nervously. "I've got an uneasy feeling that we're being watched, and I keep expecting Freeza to pop out from behind every corner."

Bulma used the dragon radar to direct them around to the back of the ship. According to the radar, they were right where the dragonballs should be, but the large, orange orbs were nowhere in sight.

"So where are they?" Kuririn asked impatiently. "Are you reading the radar right, Bulma?"

Bulma shot him an irritated glare, and then she shifted her weight from one foot to the other impatiently. All at once she realized that the ground beneath their feet felt softer than usual. "Hmm..." she said, scratching at it with the toe of her boot. "This ground is pretty soft. Someone's been doing some digging here."

"Hey! You're right!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Come on; let's start digging!"

They shoveled the freshly packed dirt away with their hands, and sure enough, it was only a matter of minutes before they had unearthed all seven of the dragonballs. Apparently Freeza had been forced to hide them in a hurry, because he hadn't found a very secure place for them.

"Well, that was easy," Bulma remarked, dusting her hands off and putting her dragon radar away. "Somebody was definitely in a hurry to hide these things. Let's hope they're not in a hurry to come back!"

"Let's get these wishes made before they get the chance," Kuririn said. "Would you like to do the honors, Bulma?"

"I'd be delighted," she chuckled, smiling courteously at him. They stepped back away, and Bulma began the incantation.

"Oh, great Shenlon!" she cried. "Come forth and grant our wish!"

They waited tensely for a few seconds for the dragon to appear. Nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Bulma exclaimed in dismay. "I said the incantation right, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Kuririn muttered, scratching his head. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute!" he cried. "Our dragon was made on Earth, wasn't he?"

"That's right," Bulma agreed. "Kami created him and the second set of dragonballs after Piccolo Daimaou destroyed the first ones. Both sets were created on earth."

"And we call Shenlon using our language, don't we?" Kuririn persisted. "Well, these were created here. Maybe these dragonballs won't respond to our language. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"Oh!" Bulma cried. "That's an excellent point, Kuririn! I'll try saying it in the Namek language. Maybe that'll work!"

She thought carefully for a moment, laboring over the conjugation of the verb. Finally, she was satisfied that she knew what she wanted to say, and in a clear, calm voice, she said the words as she had translated them.

"Takkarato po Shenlon pupirittoparo!"

They waited hopefully for any kind of change in the dragonballs' appearance. Nothing happened – not even the faintest of glows within the orbs.

"I just don't get it," Bulma complained. "What am I doing wrong?"

"There must be a specific phrase then," Kuririn sighed. "I guess all we can do is go ask Saichorou what it is."

Bulma nodded. "I guess so," she said, "but maybe only one of us should go. We can't leave the dragonballs unguarded. Come to think of it, we probably ought to move them."

They were in the middle of trying to figure out what to do when Bulma suddenly sensed the twinge of approaching chi. "Kuririn!" she shrieked. "I can sense someone coming! No, wait; there are two of them! One of them is Jees, and I can't quite figure out who the other one is, but he's definitely strong!"

"What?!" Kuririn gasped. "Oh crap; you're right! What are we gonna do? We can't let Jees see the dragonballs!"

Bulma frowned and shook her head. "He came here after Goku beat up Baata and Rikuum, so I'm sure he already knows the dragonballs are here. Besides, they're too close now for us to hide these things in time. We only have two options here: flee or fight. We can either run like the dickens and hope they don't catch us, or we can stay here and defend the dragonballs. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide for yourselves, but as for me, I'm staying. I'm tired of running like a frightened rabbit every time some new powerful enemy comes along! We may not get another chance at these dragonballs, Kuririn; you know that. Who knows when Freeza might come back? Besides, it's not like we'd have very long to live if we fled anyway. We can't outrun Freeza forever. Eventually, he'd just blow up the planet."

"You're right," Kuririn agreed with an angry sigh. "I guess I'm in. We might as well fight. I just wish I knew what happened to Goku. He wouldn't have let Jees just come after us like this unless something happened to him."

Bulma would have said something in reply, but they had just received visitors. Gohan, Kuririn, and Bulma stared in shock as Jees and Goku himself landed in front of them!

"Goku!" Kuririn exclaimed, utterly elated with this turn of events. "What's going on? Why are you here with this guy?"

"I know!" Gohan said eagerly, staring at Goku with a joyous expression. "You got him to switch sides, didn't you, Daddy?"

Goku grinned slyly at Jees, who grinned back. It was then that Bulma noticed that Goku was wearing a scouter. She'd felt kind of funny about him already, because his chi didn't feel right. It didn't seem like his at all, actually, and she could have recognized Goku's chi anywhere, no matter how strong he became. That scouter was what made her the most uneasy, though. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Are you... _okay_, Goku?" she asked, taking a few steps closer to him and looking him over from head to foot. "You don't feel right to me. Your chi is completely different. While we're on the subject, since when do you use a scouter, too?" She put her hands on her hips. "Something's not right. What happened to you in that battle back there?"

Goku winked at Jees and smiled absurdly at Bulma. "I don't know what you mean," he said in a hoarse yet strangely familiar voice. "My throat's a little scratchy, but I'm the same old Goku!"

Bulma started. His voice sounded awful! "What's going on?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive. She looked nervously first at Goku, and then at Jees. "And why is _he_ here? You can't tell _me_ he switched sides, Goku. That is, if you really are Goku..." Her voice trailed off, and she suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. "That voice!" she shrieked, hopping back away from him and adopting a defensive stance. "Now I know where I've heard it before! That's Ginyu's voice! Tell me," she demanded, "what the hell is going on here! I should have known something was wrong when I didn't recognize Goku's chi in you! You aren't him at all! What have you done to Goku, you impostor?"

Kuririn rushed forward and put himself between Bulma and Goku. "Bulma, what are you saying?!" he exclaimed. "That's got to be Goku! The only other people we left back there were Ginyu and Vegita, and I hardly think we could mistake either one for Goku! Now just calm down," he said in a more gentle tone. "You don't need to get yourself so worked up again! You're obviously just all stressed out, so why don't you sit down and take it easy for a while?"

Bulma shot him a brief but stony glare before returning her distrustful gaze to Goku. "Kuririn, you need to stop and focus your senses right now! Oolong and Puar have the ability to change their shapes at will. Do you honestly believe that they are the only ones in the universe to have learned such a technique? Who's to say that our dear friend 'Goku,' or should I say, 'Captain Ginyu,' couldn't have learned how to do this too?" She pointed an accusing finger at Goku. "Admit it!" she demanded. "You're not Goku! You're Ginyu!"

"Now that you mention it," Gohan said, turning a little pale, "he really doesn't feel like my dad at all, does he? Bulma, I think you might be right! Kuririn, get away from him! I don't think that's really my dad!"

Kuririn turned and glanced at Goku imploringly, as if to beg for some logical explanation that would calm Bulma down and set Gohan's mind at ease. Goku didn't acknowledge him, though. Both he and Jees simply stared at Bulma in total astonishment. Suddenly, Goku smirked, and after a few moments, he chuckled sinisterly and shook his head in disbelief.

"I must admit," he laughed, his eyes flashing with an unnatural gleam of depravity, "I never thought you'd notice the difference so quickly. You're a lot sharper than that idiot you left to fight me!"

Bulma bared her teeth at him, and Gohan tensed as Kuririn laughed nervously. "Uh, Goku?" he said, backing away a bit. "You can stop joking around now, you know. I uh... I think you're scaring Gohan!"

"What have you done with him?" Bulma growled. "Where is Goku?"

Goku (who shall hitherto be known as Ginyu) stifled a laugh. "Well, it all depends on what you count as 'being' Goku," he said, grinning broadly. "If you mean the physical part of him, or his body, then you're looking at him. As for the rest of him... well, let's just say that I hope you weren't too attached to his brilliant personality!"

"What?" Gohan and Kuririn gasped.

"Y- you're _inside_ Goku's body?!" Bulma stuttered. "But what about..."

"My old body?" he finished for her, relishing her astonishment. "You might say it's now the legal property of the original owner of this one. Poor sap! He really did get the bad end of the bargain. I gave him my old body in return for his, but mine was slightly damaged when we made the exchange."

Kuririn and Gohan were by now much too stunned to utter a single syllable. Bulma was shaking with rage. To have victory snatched away from them when it was so close! It was unbearable!

"Now then," Ginyu said, allowing only the faintest trace of a smile to linger on his face. "The introductions are over. It's time to get down to business. Since you were able to find our dragonballs so quickly, I'm going to assume you know enough about them to know how to use them. Tell me; how do they work?"

"Sorry pal," Bulma said, grinning angrily. "They don't grant wishes to assholes."

Ginyu stared at her in shock for a couple of seconds before bursting out into a roaring fit of laughter. "Is that a fact?" he asked, chuckling deeply. "Well, I suppose that rules me out then, doesn't it? Good thing I'm not the one who's making the wish. Ah well. It really doesn't matter if you tell me how to use them or not. Lord Freeza is going to beat the answers out of those three Nameks anyway."

Bulma realized with horror that he was talking about Nail, Dende, and Saichorou, and she gasped. All at once, however, her expression brightened and she broke out into an unnaturally high-pitched laugh.

"What is it?" Ginyu asked her, looking more than a little confused by her surprising reaction.

"Freeza is such a fool," Bulma said, shaking her head and chuckling wryly. "He doesn't have any idea that the moment he kills the eldest Namek, he will have permanently destroyed his dreams of immortality! Once Saichorou dies, the dragonballs die with him!" She laughed again; not because Saichorou was going to die, but because of the supreme irony of the situation. It would be Freeza's own ruthlessness and cruelty that would doom his plan to failure.

"You're not kidding," Kuririn chuckled. "It's a twisted sort of justice, but it serves the scaly bastard right, doesn't it?" He laughed a little too, shaking his head angrily as he too marveled at the irony. He was furious about the possibility of Freeza's attacking someone as noble and defenseless as Saichorou, but he couldn't help thinking that even the kind old Namek would appreciate the irony enough to laugh at the purpose his death would serve Freeza in the end.

Ginyu snorted and shot them a crafty smirk before shaking his head in disappointment. "You know, I was wrong to say you were smarter than your precious Goku. Anyone with a brain can see that you're only using a ploy to try to spare the Nameks' lives! How transparent can you get?!" He laughed again, and then he crossed his arms and sneered at them. "Unfortunately for you, my friends, my scouter isn't transmitting our conversation to Lord Freeza, so he didn't hear your pathetic attempt to save the lives of your little green buddies."

Bulma frowned and decided to set her emotions aside for the time being. Dwelling on the cruelty of Freeza and the suffering of her Namek friends wouldn't solve their current problem, and it wouldn't be what they would have wanted her to do anyway. "Believe me or don't," she said coldly, shrugging and shaking her head. "Either way, it no longer has anything to do with us. It's now between Freeza and the Nameks to determine the fate of the dragonballs; neither you nor I know the proper phrase to unlock their power."

"I see," Ginyu said, smiling a very satisfied smile and nodding at her. "That's all I wanted to hear." He took off his scouter and handed it to Jees. "You can have this back now," he told him. "It doesn't do any good against these people anyway." Cracking his knuckles, he took a couple steps toward them, causing them all to tense anxiously. "Well then," he said, grinning fiendishly at them. "I suppose all that remains for us now is a fight to determine who will gain custody of the dragonballs until Lord Freeza returns. It'll be a great way to stave off our boredom, don't you agree?"

"I've a better idea," Bulma said, as a plan had begun to take shape in her mind. She levitated the dragonballs in a horizontal ring above her head. "Take one last look at them," she said with a flash of mischief sparkling in her eyes. She teleported them away to a place in the air just above the surface of a lake some hundred miles away. Although she obviously wasn't able to hear the splash they must have made, she knew for certain that they'd be well hidden once they sunk all the way to the bottom, and this little tactic just might ensure their victory; just in case Freeza did learn how to use the dragonballs, that is.

Ginyu's eyes narrowed, and his breath hissed in the back of his throat. "You shouldn't have done that," he said with a quiet malevolence in his voice that sent a chill through her tensed muscles. "Now I'll have to make your death more painful and humiliating than I'd first intended. Jees," he commanded, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke. "I know you'll get a kick out of this. Do whatever it takes to get this stupid girl to tell you where she's spirited those dragonballs off to."

"With pleasure," Jees said, licking his lips and giving Bulma a look that made her want to retch. She clenched her fists and glared at him defiantly.

"Gohan! Kuririn!" she barked. "Leave Jees to me. No matter what happens, I want you two to focus on Ginyu. Never mind if he _is_ in Goku's body! Pound him flat! Forget about the dragonballs; they're gone for good. Only I know where to find them now, and I'll be damned if I'm telling these bastards anything! Besides, they aren't going to do us much good if we don't know how to use them. The only thing we can do now is keep Freeza from winning!"

"You've got it, Bulma!" Gohan cried, flaring his chi.

"So much for an easy victory," Kuririn chuckled wryly, assuming a defensive stance. "Be careful, Bulma."

After a hasty nod, she teleported to the air just above Freeza's compound, and she shot a small blast of challenge at Jees. He grinned and dodged it with ease as he took off after Bulma, which was exactly what she'd counted on his doing. If she could somehow manage to pull this off, she'd really have an impressive story to tell Yamucha later on.

"So-ki-dan!" she cried, forming the deadliest one she could muster with what limited strength she had left. She sent it whizzing at Jees, and he stopped in mid-air in order to block it. Well, that's what he thought! She sent it off to the left just before it reached him. Then she straightaway sent it zooming back, and she soon had it zigzagging all around him, all the time never touching him, but keeping him fairly preoccupied. It didn't confuse him, though, as the grin on his face was enough evidence to see that her ploy was only amusing him. Still, all it really needed to do was keep his attention, and so far, it looked like it was working splendidly.

In the meantime, she circled around to the other side of him, and with a fierce shout, she launched herself full-force at him, drawing her leg back for a vicious kick. He laughed and spun around to meet her attack, and she let her so-ki-dan dawdle a bit behind him as she sailed forward. He turned his eyes away from the zigzagging ball as he poised himself to block her, and that was all she had been waiting for. She flicked the so-ki-dan towards his back with all her mental strength.

She couldn't have executed it more perfectly. The blast slammed into his back with impressive speed and strength, and it quite surprised and disoriented Jees. He fell forward from the force of the explosion, and in his surprise, he momentarily lost his focus on Bulma, who was still coming at him. She was just in time to finish her attack off with a savage kick to his ribcage, completely reversing his direction of movement, and thus making the attack twice as powerful.

Jees shot backwards and bounced off the top of Freeza's ship, just missing the edge on his way over. He landed roughly on the ground below, but Bulma could sense he was regaining his composure just the same. She remembered seeing a gaping hole in one of the main windows on the side of the ship. Like a flash, a good idea occurred to her, and she made a mad dash for that hole. She checked once to see if Jees was following her. Not yet, but judging from the loud, angry curse she heard from the ground back there, he was on his way.

She hesitated before she jumped into the ship through the hole, glancing down at Gohan, Kuririn, and Ginyu. They had already begun their battle, and Gohan and Kuririn were holding their own marvelously. Gohan was doing especially well. It felt as though he'd gotten a lot stronger since he'd eaten that Sensu bean. She grinned in silent satisfaction as she dove into the hole in the glass.

Once inside, she found herself in a large room on the side of the ship opposite from the sick bay where she had awakened in her first visit. She left the room she was in via a door, which led her out into the main hallway of the top floor of the ship. She then ran into the central area of the top floor, where she noticed a small stairway down. She shot down the stairs until she reached the bottom floor, which was three floors from the top. This would do nicely. She ran into one of the nearest rooms and quietly closed the door behind her. She had found herself in what appeared to be some kind of training room, guessing from the variety of weights and exercise machines she saw everywhere. She decided that this place would be satisfactory.

She hid behind one of the exercise machines and waited, patiently watching the door. She was breathing heavily and sweating a little by now; the stress and exertion of the past couple of days was catching up with her, and she was already past her exhaustion point. Still, she was confident in her plan. She had known that he'd follow her in, but that he wouldn't dare blow up the ship; Freeza would kill him for wasting a ship on the likes of her – even one that had been slightly pockmarked by the successful escape attempts of both Vegita and herself. If she'd figured this right, it would take him a few minutes to find her. That ought to give her enough time to gather her strength and think of her next plan of action.

Really, this had only been a diversionary tactic. She'd needed to buy herself some time and catch her breath. She was smart enough to know that she couldn't beat Jees on her own, but she figured that the boys could handle Captain Ginyu, as long as Jees wasn't there to help him. If she could hold him off long enough for them to take care of the big guy, then she'd stand a good chance of survival. She knew, however, that it was going to take all of her remaining energy and cunning just to keep ahead of him, and that although she had cunning to spare, her energy was in dangerously short supply. She hastily went to work on deciding what to do next.

When Bulma had entered the room, she had neglected to notice that there was another entrance on its opposite end - one which led to a separate hallway that was just as accessible from the upstairs as hers was. Also, she had forgotten that Jees had Ginyu's scouter, so she wasn't suppressing her chi as she hid from him. These two oversights, unbeknownst to her, had rendered her plan ineffective. As Jees tracked her down with the scouter, he used the quickest passages to get to where he was going, which, unfortunately for Bulma, led him straight to that door that she had overlooked. Although it was sheer coincidence that she had come to the first door rather than this one, it might just as easily have been attributed to bad luck, because as soon as Jees stealthily slipped inside, he perceived almost immediately what was going on. He could plainly see Bulma from where he was, and he could also see that she was totally oblivious to him. Stifling a laugh, he silently crept up behind her.

Bulma was still trying to come up with a good plan when the little hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end. She was suddenly aware that someone was watching her from behind, and she realized that she hadn't been paying enough attention to the chi around her, thanks to her focusing on the battle going on outside. She spun around frantically, punching at the presence she felt behind her. Upon finding herself face to face with Jees, she let out a horrified gasp.

He caught her fist in his gloved hand and he held it there. As their connected hands quivered a bit in opposition of one another, he began squeezing her fist progressively harder until she winced in pain, at which point he let her go, surprisingly enough. She did a quick somersault up and over the machine she'd been using for cover, and she eyed him warily as he strolled casually around it until he was standing only a few yards away from her.

"You can't win, you know," he said, leaning up against the machine with a smug grin on his face. "You're far too outclassed by me to stand any chance of escape."

Bulma tensed and backed up a few more steps. "If you think that I'm going to tell you anything because of that, then you're going to be terrifically disappointed!" she spat at him with a wry laugh.

"Well I should hope not!" Jees laughed back. "That would take all the fun out of it!"

Bulma decided that it was time to leave. She bolted out the door she'd used to enter the room, and she made a beeline for the stairway. She cursed herself for underestimating Jees so terribly. Right now she was too weak to teleport any real distance; all she could do was run. She knew he was following her, but she couldn't hear him coming.

Suddenly, she found out why. He materialized in front of her, right inside the doorway to the stairs. She crashed into him, and she would have fallen backward from the impact (which quite easily could have been likened to crashing into a reinforced concrete wall) had Jees not grabbed her by her upper arms and held her upright. He clamped her arms against her sides and held them there, thus immobilizing her upper body. She shrieked in terror and kicked viciously at him, but he didn't so much as flinch at any of her strikes. She must have become far more weakened than she had first surmised. Bulma began to panic in earnest. She was much too weak right now to fend off any kind of attack, and she had a feeling that Jees knew it. She only hoped that the boys were having better luck than she was.

"You might as well accept it, love," he said seductively, his eyes burning holes into hers. "I've won, and now, you belong to me." His voice had become thick and husky, and when both tone and words combined to form their sinister duet, they froze the blood in Bulma's veins. All at once, the fear and dread he had awakened in her revealed to Bulma his unthinkable intentions, and she lost nearly all color in her face.

With a sudden laugh, he turned and violently flung her across the room. She slammed into the far wall and dropped to the floor on her stomach, stunned and unable to push herself up onto her feet – at least for the moment. She heard a hollow thud, and she weakly lifted her head to find that he had taken off his armor and tossed it aside. Now he was wearing only the skin-tight, legless suit that had been underneath. He quickly walked toward her, grinning at her with far more than a little excitement dancing in his evil eyes. She let out a frightened squeak as her flight instincts kicked in, and she scrambled to her feet to run from him. She hadn't even taken the first two steps before he appeared in front of her and clamped a vice-like hand around her neck, stopping her cold in her tracks. She simply couldn't believe his speed; it was like teleportation!

Before she even had a chance to gag, he threw her into the wall again, this time pinning her there - his grip like an unbreakable collar, tethering her neck to the wall and rendering her immobile. She fought sluggishly against him as he grinned a wicked, eager grin and slowly raked his eyes up and down the contours of her body. She wanted to cry out, but he had all but closed her windpipe, and she could only claw desperately at his hand to loosen his grip. He wasn't ready to let her go just yet, however.

"First we'll get rid of this useless thing," he snickered, seizing a fistful of fabric from the front of her gi and ripping a large section of it away from her. He then let go of her and stepped back, watching with cruel satisfaction as she staggered away from him, gasping for air and desperately trying to cover the front of herself with her arms. He had all but torn the entire front half of her gi away, and only her bra and panties remained to protect what was left of her modesty from his invasive eyes.

"Stay... stay away from me, you pervert!" she cried shrilly as she finally began to fill her lungs with air. She let out a terrified scream as he began following her down the hall, his eyes glittering with a foreign yet terrifying intensity. "P-please! Stay back!"

"Do you know what I love about women?" he asked her, grinning triumphantly as he watched an expression of panic wash over her face when she realized that she had backed herself into a corner and left herself no route for escape. She stood there as he advanced, shivering and covering what she could with her trembling arms.

"Don't do this," she pleaded, her frightened eyes filling with tears as they watched every move he made. He casually closed the distance between them with his slow, deliberate steps. "Please, just stay away!"

"As soon as I get down to a little skin, they all do the same thing," he chuckled, so close now that he could have reached out and touched her. "No matter how tough they think they are, they all do what you're doing now: make some ridiculous attempts at covering themselves, and completely lower their guard." He studied her with a sadistic grin as she tried to flatten herself against the wall in an effort to stay as far away from him as possible. "Women are weak, and yet they never seem to understand it well enough. It's one of the most wonderful feelings in the world to utterly conquer a woman, and I can't wait to feel it again!" He lunged forward and seized her shoulders, yanking her away from the wall and throwing her to the floor. As she screamed in terror, he pounced on her, pinning her arms to the floor and laughing a wild, terrifying laugh.

"Yes!" he growled, his eyes flashing with a savagery that frightened her half to death. "Scream and fight it! There's nothing that excites me more!"

"Please!" she begged, shaking her head violently and struggling to wriggle free of his powerful grip on her arms. "Please let me go!"

"Oh, I haven't even _begun_ to enjoy you yet, sweetie," he crooned, letting go of her arms as he began ripping his body suit open down the front, eliciting a whimper of despair from Bulma. "I knew the moment I saw you that I wanted to break you in. You're the rare gem on a battlefield full of worthless gravel! And who knows? If you please me enough, I may not have to kill you after all. I might be persuaded to ask Freeza to let me keep you for a while. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

"No!" she sobbed, desperately beating at his chest and kicking her legs in an effort to force him off of her. "I'd rather die! Let me go!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Bulma thought she saw a flash of movement in the shadows behind Jees. However, that was soon forgotten as he began laughing at her frightened sobs and plaintive cries and quickly ripped away what was left of her gi. He began to grope and squeeze the most intimate places of her upper body, and he laughingly toyed with her brassiere, jeering at her for choosing to wear such flimsy armor. All of the sudden, Bulma saw through the veil of her tears the unmistakable silhouette of Vegita as he advanced upon them from the shadows behind Jees.

As he stepped into the light only a foot or so away from them, she got a disturbingly clear look at his face. Although she was already quite frightened, Bulma immediately became frozen in terror by the very sight of him. He was more than angry; he was insane with rage, and the sheer power of his chi as it crackled and sparked around him was overwhelming, to say the least. She stared at him in abject terror and she forgot all else, transfixed as she was by the petrifying vision he made. His nostrils flared and his teeth were grinding forcefully, but the features that would be forever imprinted in Bulma's memory were his eyes. They were glowing with the power of pure hatred, and right now they glared with incalculable ferocity at Jees.

Jees observed that not only had she ceased struggling and screaming, but she was also staring at something behind him. All at once he realized that they were not alone. He spun around to see who it was, but he didn't react quickly enough to avoid what came next.

"You fucking pig!" Vegita hissed, seizing him by the neck and hurling the surprised, half-naked man all the way across the twenty-foot hallway, where he crashed spectacularly into the opposite wall, cracking open a large hole and loosing a flurry of debris and chalky dust behind him. Jees had taken a nasty blow to the head, and he didn't get to his feet immediately. Vegita was by no means through with him, however.

"I'm blasting you straight to Hell, you stinking bastard!" he roared, his chi practically exploding around him.

Bulma was unable to move. She was so terrified by Vegita that she hadn't even realized that Jees was no longer a threat to her. Even on Earth, she hadn't seen such tremendous rage in the explosive Saiyan, and although she had found him frightening and even terrifying before, she was now scarcely able to withstand the depths of the fear that he instilled in her. He was a demon of rage and hatred, and she was paralyzed by her unyielding terror of him.

Jees somehow managed to unearth himself from the wall, but he was only just in time to be attacked again. Vegita shot down the hallway and sailed into him, and Bulma could only watch as he grabbed Jees by his neck with one hand and then slammed him violently against the part of the wall which hadn't been broken by the prior impact. The sheer ferocity and rage being emitted by Vegita's chi aura bombarded Bulma's senses and made her feel faint. If she had been in a calmer state of mind, however, she would have realized that her exhaustion - as well as the trauma that Jees had caused her - had also been large contributing factors to her weakened constitution.

Jees made an unintelligible gurgling sound, and he kicked at Vegita's legs and chopped at his arms as he tried to wrench his neck free. Unfortunately for him, the enraged Saiyan knew very well that he had his adversary at a huge disadvantage in strength right now. He was ten times more powerful now than he had been before Kakkarot had given him that strange seed. Jees wasn't going anywhere.

"I sorely detest the fact that I won't be able to make your death as long-lasting and painful as you so richly deserve," Vegita snarled, drawing his free hand back and charging himself up for something huge, "but I haven't the time to waste on a spineless worm like you. Be grateful for that, and be prepared to meet your idiotic captain again soon; he will be joining you shortly!" With that, he released Jees' neck, and - in one swift movement - he fired off a chi blast that completely engulfed his enemy and instantly disintegrated him as it tore all the way through to the outside of Freeza's ship. Vegita's eyes were gleaming with a sadistic satisfaction as his blast traveled across the Namekian landscape for nearly a mile beyond the ship, causing several explosions along the way. Jees was undeniably no more.

The hellish roar of the blast had shaken Bulma from her paralysis, and she had somehow managed to struggle jerkily to her feet, using the wall next to her for much-needed support. She was breathing very heavily, and she fought hard against the dizziness that had suddenly plagued her. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and she was afraid that she might keel over at any moment. She stared numbly at Vegita, almost too exhausted to care why he was there or what he planned to do with her now. However, all that changed when he turned around and his gaze fell upon her.

When she saw his eyes focus on hers, the vulnerability of her situation hit her all at once, and she let out a terrified whimper. She clung to the wall to keep her knees from buckling, and she was unable to do more than simply stand there and tremble under his critical stare. All the terror and mind-crushing despair of being confined here alone with him was nearly more than her anguished mind could bear, and as he slowly began walking toward her, she bemoaned the realization that she'd gone from the clutches of one cruel beast right into the clutches of another.

"S-stay away from me..." she sobbed, burying her face in the wall and feebly swinging her arm behind her to ward off the frightening image. "Don't come any closer!"

She was so weakened right now that she could barely stand, and her reason and logic had left her entirely, leaving only terror and shame in their wake. She couldn't bear it; she didn't want him looking at her like this any more than she'd wanted Jees doing it, but Vegita was far more frightening to her than Jees had been.

He advanced on her slowly, cautiously studying her movements in case she might fly at him in a sudden rage and injure herself. As he realized how dangerously low the strength of her chi had become, he knew there'd be no danger of that. The only thing she could do to anyone now was yell and cry at them. She seemed barely able to keep herself upright on those wobbly legs of hers, and she looked as though she might pass out at any moment.

When he had come close enough to touch her, he hesitated for a moment, as though he was unsure of what to do. It was only a brief pause, however. "You're coming with me," he ordered sternly, gripping her shoulder with one hand. Immediately, her head snapped around, and she stared at him with wide, panic-stricken eyes for the briefest of instants before letting out a terrified yelp. She let go of the wall in a frantic effort to shove him away from her with both her hands, and she turned her head away again, screaming as though the sight of him drove her to hysteria. Her feeble attempts to push him away only succeeded in giving him two arms to grab onto to aid in pulling her towards him, and he held her upright by her shoulders, as her legs didn't seem to want to support her weight any longer. She began crying and screaming at him, sluggishly beating at him with her fists and craning her neck in an effort to keep her face as far away from him as possible.

"No!" she screamed as he ignored her struggles and scooped her into his arms – flailing limbs and all. "Please, no! I don't want this! Oh God, somebody please help me!"

Vegita let her flail and scream without comment as he turned and calmly began walking down the hallway with her. Although she managed to strike his face several times during her terrified struggles, at this point her blows had become so feeble that they scarcely made him close his eyes. After only a half-minute or so of hysterics, she had already worn herself out, and she simply buried her face in her shaking hands and sobbed as though she could never be consoled.

She knew that there was nothing she could do to stop him. Regardless of whatever Vegita had in mind, he was going to get his way without so much as a bruise from her. She hated herself so much right now. She wanted to die; even death would have been better than the utter helplessness and weakness that plagued her body and her mind at that moment. The shame she felt as she imagined his cool, scrutinizing eyes raking every inch of her trembling, scantily clothed body - that and her overwhelming fear of him were both terrifically powerful sensations, but even they weren't as oppressive as the complete and utter defeat that had claimed her soul. She was finished. She had no fight left.

As he carried her through the complicated hallways of Freeza's ship, Vegita could feel her violent trembling and palpitating heartbeat everywhere her body came into contact with his. He was starkly aware of the paralyzing fear she had reserved for him, and for some reason, it made him uneasy. He wasn't sure why; it didn't make any sense, considering the fact that by all rights she damn well _ought_ to be terrified of him. He was her enemy, and he was far more powerful than she could ever hope to be. He could kill her in an instant, and why this fact seemed to escape her logic so often, he had never quite understood.

One thing had been certain, however. When he had seen the way that Jees had rendered her into the pitiful, sobbing state that she was in, it had filled him with an unimaginable level of rage and hatred. On a normal day, he hated Jees' guts. At that moment, he had loathed the very idea that the flaming cretin had dared breathe the same air as himself. His gut told him that the woman had had something to do with his fury, but he didn't really concern himself too much about it. The most important thing now was to restore her to a more coherent state of mind and body, or he'd never find out where she'd hidden the dragonballs.

In the next several minutes of silence that they spent traveling through the hallways of Freeza's ship, Bulma went through a lifetime of agonies. When she heard Vegita's voice at last, it was like being awakened from a terrible dream, only to find herself living yet another one.

"You aren't going to be much use to anyone the way you are now," he grumbled. "The rejuvenation tank can heal your physical injuries, but you need to snap yourself out of the rest of it. Freeza isn't going to give you a chance to recover from this. You have to strengthen your mind, or you won't survive what's to come."

"Re-... rejuvenation tank?" she asked him, her voice wavering and cracking from fatigue and emotion.

"You can't tell me you've forgotten what those are," he said quietly, turning his head from side to side as he reached a split at the end of a hallway that he wasn't familiar with. "Didn't they put you in one after you were brought here the last time?"

"You're... going to put me in... a rejuvenation tank?" she continued, her mind only partially comprehending the significance of her own words, and her head beginning to nod.

"Yes, I'm going to put you in one! Why in blazes do you think I'm traipsing through this infernal ship with a mumbling fool like you? You're in no condition to even stand upright, much less tell anyone where you hid the dragonballs. You're going into the rejuvenation tank for an hour, and when you come out again, you're going to stop being such a weakling, and grow yourself a backbone, dammit!"

Bulma didn't answer him. Her exhaustion had finally conquered her, and she had fallen asleep in his arms. He groaned in frustration and kicked the door of the sick bay open with one foot, snarling savagely as he looked for a tank that hadn't been damaged. More than anything, he lamented the fact that he hadn't been granted enough time to rip that bastard Jees apart, one limb at a time!


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Porunga, the Namek Dragon**

Bulma didn't wake up again until the rejuvenation tank was reopened. When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring right into the irritated face of Vegita. Upon seeing him, she gave a violent start, and she slammed her head against the top of the tank, stunning herself and yelping in pain.

"What... what's going on?" she moaned as he disconnected the breathing apparatus from her face. "Where am I?"

"You're in my way," he barked at her. "Stop babbling like an idiot and get out of there. It's Kakkarot's turn now."

"What?" Bulma said, forgetting the pain in her head for the moment. "Goku? Where is he?" All at once, the memories of what had happened to Goku - as well as what had happened to her - came flooding back to her. Her breathing began to quicken and her heart began to race as she shrank away from Vegita, but when she realized that he wasn't blocking her exit, she quickly seized her opportunity to leap out of the tank. She immediately shied away from him, looking around her in a confused state of panic. They were in the same sick bay she'd found herself in the first time she'd been in Freeza's ship, and thankfully, she and Vegita were not alone. She saw that Kuririn and Gohan were holding Goku up on their shoulders, and even in her anxious state of mind, Bulma only needed to catch the briefest sensation of his chi to realize that he was the real Goku. He smiled weakly at her.

"Hey Bulma," he said feebly. "We beat 'im!"

"Goku!" she exclaimed, appalled at the terrible shape he was in. "You're back in your body! What happened out there?"

"Put Kakkorot in the tank!" Vegita ordered, causing her to jump. He pointed to the seat inside. "Quit wasting time!"

Kuririn and Gohan helped Goku over to the rejuvenation tank. Bulma gave an involuntary shiver as a draft of cold air hit her damp body. Suddenly she realized that she was still only wearing her underwear, and she felt a surge of panic begin to wash over her.

On his way to the rejuvenation tank, Goku noticed the syringes sitting on the doctor's table. He reacted in much the same way that he had in the hospital back home – by completely losing his mind.

"Yaaah!" he screamed, suddenly displaying a surprising boost of strength as he struggled to get away from Gohan and Kuririn. "You didn't say I was going to get a shot! Lemme go! I'd rather go fight Freeza!" His sudden outburst had snapped Bulma out of her building panic, and she covered her eyes in embarrassment as he continued to struggle with Kuririn and Gohan, all the while with Vegita looking on in mortified disgust. Goku had nearly succeeded in knocking Kuririn and Gohan over and getting away, until Vegita decided that he had seen more than enough.

"I'm not giving you a shot, idiot!" he bellowed. "Stop being such an infant! Have some dignity, you imbecile!"

Goku breathed a sigh of relief, and he immediately acted as if nothing had happened. He allowed Kuririn and Gohan to help him into the tank, and they also helped him with the breathing mask. When they had finished, Vegita slammed the tank shut and punched a couple of the buttons on the control panel. The tank began to fill with the blue liquid again, and Goku's eyelids began to close. He was exhausted, and he was really beaten up. Her curiosity made her forget her embarrassment for the moment, and Bulma asked Kuririn what had happened out there.

"Well," he began. "Gohan and I were losing pretty bad to Ginyu. It turns out that he wasn't nearly as strong in Goku's body as Goku was, but he was just strong enough to be too much for us. About ten minutes after you disappeared into Freeza's ship, Vegita showed up and began beating the tar out of Ginyu. At first, Ginyu didn't really seem to be enjoying things, but after a while, he got this really funny smile on his face. He just let Vegita punch him around for a while, all the time grinning that weird grin. It wasn't until Goku got back that we finally realized why. He was just about to switch bodies with Vegita when Goku jumped in the way. Ginyu was tricked back into his old body, but he hadn't given up. Goku was pretty much out for the count by now; Vegita had beaten his body up so bad that he could barely stand up. All the same, when Ginyu tried to switch bodies with Vegita again, Goku took care of it."

"What did he do?" Bulma asked him, eager to learn how an incapacitated Goku had managed to thwart such a dirty tactic.

"Well," Kuririn said, grinning slyly, "Goku picked up a frog that was next to him at the time, and just as Ginyu was making his move, he flung it up in between him and Vegita. Ginyu accidentally switched bodies with the frog, and now he's out there in a frog's body, and the frog's in his! You should have seen it! The frog hopped all around in Ginyu's body while the real Ginyu just sat there on the ground, crying like a baby! It was hilarious!"

"You're kidding!" Bulma cried, laughing happily. "Oh, I wish I'd been able to see that! It sounds like you guys had a lot better luck than I did! So how are you two, anyway? Did Ginyu hurt you too badly?"

"Nah, Gohan and I are fine, aren't we, kid?" Kuririn said, patting a grinning Gohan on the head. "It was all out of our hands as soon as Vegita got there. I'm sure Vegita's okay too. Ginyu couldn't even touch him, even when he was in Goku's body!"

Bulma glanced over at Vegita. He was studying her and her friends quietly, although he didn't exactly seem interested in what they were saying. She took a few involuntary steps backward and glanced anxiously around the room to see if there was something she could stand behind, so that she could hide her barely clothed body from his discomforting gaze. It felt like she was suffocating whenever she knew he was staring at her like that. Even though he hadn't really done anything to her besides put her in the rejuvenation tank, she couldn't help getting a chill when he looked at her, because one look at his eyes was all it took to bring back the memory of the terrible rage and hatred that had at recently burned within them. He had already shown her that he was a cold-blooded killer, and she couldn't help feeling completely powerless whenever she knew he had those probing eyes of his pointed in her direction. He had seen her at her weakest, and nothing could ever change that now.

There was no doubt in her mind that she didn't trust him, although given the situation they were in now, she had no choice but to cooperate with him. If nothing else, however, she was going to do her best not to be left alone with him from now on. Although she knew that they wouldn't be able to stop him if he really set his mind to do something to her, she knew she'd feel at least a little safer if Kuririn and Gohan could be there with her.

Kuririn noticed the way she kept shooting fearful glances at Vegita, and he tilted his head to one side with a confused frown. Had something happened to make Bulma afraid of Vegita – at least more so than usual, that is? It wasn't like her at all to be so quiet and jittery.

Finally, Vegita broke the silence. "You three come with me," he ordered, walking to the doorway and pausing there to turn and frown at them. "You ought to change into some more defensive attire if you're planning to cross Freeza."

Gohan and Kuririn followed him out, each of them glancing at Bulma as they left. What they were thinking was written all over their faces: if anyone around here needed some new clothes, it was the one wearing only her panties and bra. Bulma followed them, taking one last look at Goku before she left the sick bay. It looked as though he had gone to sleep in there already. She hoped he'd heal soon; she really worried about the prospect of having to deal with Freeza without his help.

They followed Vegita into the adjacent room, and they watched with marked interest as he reached into a bin and pulled out a small suit of armor, complete with blue body suit and white boots. He put the breastplate into what appeared to be a kind of vice, and after twisting a knob on the side, the vice pushed on the armor and shrank it down. When he took it out of the vice, it was just the perfect size for Gohan, who he gave it to without ceremony. He began rummaging around in the bin again as Gohan gazed at his new battle armor in wonder.

Vegita found a similar set of armor for Kuririn, although his had thigh guards, a black breastplate, and a knee-length, black body suit. He gave it to Kuririn, who looked at it in much the same way that Gohan had looked at his.

"Man," he said, shaking his head and chuckling. "I never woulda guessed that I'd ever wear the same armor as Freeza's soldiers!"

He and Gohan immediately began to disrobe. Bulma crossed her arms as a disturbing thought occurred to her, and she turned a wary eye on Vegita.

"Vegita," she said, choosing her words carefully, "you've been around Freeza a lot longer than I have, so I figure you probably know this already. Be honest with us here; when it comes down to actually facing Freeza in battle, is this armor really going to make a difference? I mean, this is _Freeza_ we're talking about, after all."

Vegita paused and shook his head. He shot a sidelong glance at Bulma and grunted indifferently as he shrugged at her.

"No," he said simply. "These won't protect you from Freeza - not when he really decides to fight. They will help to lessen the damage caused by minor blows – nothing more." He had apparently finished picking through the bin, because he gave up on it and went over to a separate cabinet on the other side of the room. He sifted through the various articles of clothing that were neatly stacked there, until he had apparently found the one he was looking for. "It's a commonly accepted statistic," he began, as he pulled out the white breastplate armor, and then began sifting through the body suits, "that less than one tenth of one percent of Freeza's entire army of soldiers is female. As a result, there usually isn't much to accommodate one on short notice. It appears luck is on your side. Since there weren't any women on board for this mission, I suppose it was packed in by mistake. Here. Consider it a gift from Freeza." With a dismissive nod, he handed her the armor, a small pair of boots, and a black bodysuit.

Bulma was admittedly rather grateful for this offering, but she realized that she still had some of her own clothes left in one of her suitcase capsules. She considered opting for her backup gi, but quickly decided that whatever she could do to increase her defenses would probably serve her interests better than her own familiarity. She shrugged as she accepted the armor from him, and she kicked off her boots so that she could slip into the bodysuit. She gave a sigh of relief as the feel of the fabric against her skin helped to remove some of the chill. The clothes Vegita had given her included a black, form-fitting body suit that went all the way from her neck to her ankles, but lacked any kind of sleeves. It was made of a light, surprisingly unrestrictive stretchy material, and it was really very comfortable to wear. The armor was very similar to Vegita's, in that it didn't have the shoulder and leg guards like the boys' did. The main difference between hers and Vegita's was obviously the chest area, which was much more contoured to suit a woman's figure, and it fit Bulma remarkably well. She had decided to wear everything he'd given her, all except for the boots. Her own had been a more favorable option to her, not only because she wanted to keep her capsules on hand in case of an emergency, but also because she preferred to have at least something familiar to wear. It was more than a little disquieting to be completely clad in the garb of her enemies.

"So Bulma," Kuririn began, his cheeks flushing a little as he tried to figure out the best way to word his question. "I was just wondering... what happened to your clothes, anyway? I'm assuming it must've happened during your fight with Jees, but I'm kind of confused about a technique that would blow all your clothes away like that. What was it like to fight with a guy like that?"

Bulma had just finished putting her boots back on when she heard his question, and she stiffened noticeably. She turned her face away from him and cupped her elbows in her hands as she tried to think of a plausible explanation that didn't involve an account of her being nearly raped.

"It's not important, Kuririn," she said at last, her voice quiet but steady. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

She was unable to face him right away, for fear that she might burst into tears if she looked into his concerned, curious face, so she quickly dismissed herself, trying her best to sound casual as she announced that she needed some air. She avoided looking at any of them on her way out, and she went out of her way to give Vegita a large berth as she passed him. Kuririn watched her leave with a puzzled look on his face, and when she had gone, he scratched his head in consternation.

"Bulma's acting really weird," he remarked to Gohan, who nodded in agreement. He glanced up at Vegita and realized that he had been the one to rescue Bulma in the first place, so it was possible that he might have had a clue as to why she was acting so strangely. "Hey Vegita," he asked him. "What was that all about, anyway? You never did say what had happened to Bulma before you put her in the tank. Any idea why she's so upset? While we're at it, why is she so terrified of you, anyway? You're the one who saved her from Jees and put her in the rejuvenation tank to heal, aren't you? The way she's been acting, you'd think _you_ were the one who attacked her instead of him."

"You'd do well to keep your big mouth shut, worm!" he snapped testily. "Don't ask so many damn questions, you hear me? The erratic moods of an earth woman are no concern of mine! As for her fear of me, it might not be a bad idea for you two fools to follow her example. Don't think I appreciate the fact that you two are getting to be so familiar with me. I detest your very existence! The only reason I'm keeping you cretins alive is so that I can get you to make my wish on the dragonballs. I don't need all three of you for that, so if you continue to make me angry, then I just might forget why I'm keeping you two around. Do I make myself clear?" With a fierce scowl, he stalked away from them to the farthest corner of the room, where he crossed his arms and leaned his back up against the wall.

Gohan and Kuririn looked at each other in confused silence. Something weird was going on, and since it involved Bulma, it warranted some further investigation. It would have to wait until they could talk to _her_ though, because Vegita apparently didn't want to say anything regarding the matter, and trying to get Vegita to do anything he didn't want to do seemed about as likely as getting an involved conversation going with a brick wall. They just shook their heads and finished dressing, each individually resolving to keep a closer eye on the surly Saiyan.

When Bulma had composed herself, she came back to find them all loafing about uncomfortably on opposite sides of the room. She figured they'd been waiting on her, so she made a point of trying to hurry things along.

"Sorry it took me so long," she said brightly, walking over to Kuririn and Gohan. She shot a furtive glance at Vegita as she walked past him to join her companions. "I'm still a little woozy, I guess." She unfastened the flap on her boot and took out her capsule case. After removing one of her suitcase capsules, she pressed the button and tossed it out in front of her, whereupon it popped open to reveal the suitcase. She opened the small case and glanced at Kuririn and Gohan.

"You guys get all your clothes together if you want to keep them," she told them. "I'll let you put them in my suitcase here."

"Hey, thanks!" Gohan cried, grabbing up his torn Piccolo-esque gi. "I kinda didn't want to get rid of this."

Bulma thought she could feel Vegita staring at her, and because she was unable to stop herself, she turned to confirm her suspicion. She realized right away when she saw him that he wasn't staring at her, though. He was staring at her suitcase, and with a good deal of surprise too. She suddenly realized that he'd never seen capsules in action before. She actually cracked a smile at the prospect of surprising him with some of her company's technology.

"Human technology," she said simply, pointing to the suitcase and flashing him a brief smile. "My father owns the Capsule Corporation back on Earth. We can capsulize anything nowadays, whether it's something as small as a suitcase, or something as large as a house or a spacecraft. The one Goku arrived in was one of our most recent creations, as a matter of fact," she said, turning back around and stuffing the boys' clothes in with the various articles of clothing she had brought with her. She then snapped the suitcase shut.

"Surely you're not planning to carry that ridiculous thing around with you!" Vegita scoffed at her with a derisive sneer.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," she replied, fully enjoying his surprise, "but not like this." She pressed the little recapsulation button on the side, and the suitcase shrank back to its capsule form. She looked back at the astonished Vegita and grinned. "The process is reversible," she explained. "Pretty convenient, huh?"

Vegita just grunted something unintelligible, looking away from her as though he was totally indifferent. Chuckling softly, she picked up the capsule and put it into her capsule case, which she then stuffed back into the little compartment on her boot.

"By the way," she said as she stood back up, "has anyone decided what we should do next? We can't just wait around here for Freeza to come back; we need to do something about the dragonballs quick, or we'll lose our shot at making our wishes before he does. I have what I think is a pretty viable plan, but mine's a little too risky for my liking, so I want to hear what you three have in the way of suggestions first."

"I've got nothing," Kuririn said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Me either," Gohan said, shaking his head. "Go ahead, Bulma."

"How about you, Vegita?" Bulma asked, turning back around and ignoring the uncomfortable feeling she got in the pit of her stomach as she caught him staring at her again.

"First tell me this," he said, scowling at her. "Were you telling the truth when you said that if Freeza kills the Namek elder, the dragonballs will lose their power?"

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "You heard that?" she asked in surprise. "Where were you when all of that was going on?"

"Just answer the damn question!" Vegita snapped impatiently, causing her to flinch a little.

"All right," Bulma said, shrugging. "Yes, it's the truth. Nail said so himself, and besides, the same rules applied to our dragonballs back on Earth. Once their creator dies, the dragonballs lose their power."

Vegita's scowl deepened. "Then we're screwed," he said angrily. "There's no way we can figure out how to use the balls before he kills that geezer."

"Well, we should try, at least!" Kuririn said in frustration. "He probably hasn't killed him just yet. I say we go get them back from wherever you hid them, Bulma, and we keep trying. I'll be damned if I'm ready to give up yet!"

"No Kuririn," Bulma said emphatically, shaking her head at him. "I'm not retrieving the dragonballs until I know how to use them. There's a slim chance that Freeza might find out from Nail about Saichorou's mortal link to the dragonballs. He wouldn't dare kill him then, but he might be able to beat the dragonballs' secrets out of Nail in the end. In case we don't beat Freeza to those secrets, I'm leaving the dragonballs right where they are."

"So what do you suggest we do, then?" Kuririn asked. "You said you had an idea."

"I do, but I don't like it very much," she said grimly. "It's going to be very risky - for me, at least. I guess since we can't come up with anything better, I don't have a choice. I'm going to fly as fast as I can to Saichorou's, and when I get there, I'm going to teleport Freeza to the other side of the planet. That'll give me enough time to get the information we need from Saichorou or Nail if they're still alive. Once I figure out how to use the dragonballs, I'll come get the rest of you and teleport us all out to where the dragonballs are. Then we'll have to make our wishes in a hurry, because by then, Freeza'll be madder than hell."

"What about the wishes?" Kuririn asked, eying Vegita distrustfully.

Bulma knew what he meant. "The original plan still goes," she said, nodding at Vegita. "We'll make him immortal, and then we'll make our wishes after. We can't afford to take any more chances with our enemies. There's too much at stake here to worry about whether Vegita will turn on us or not after we've granted his wish, because the hell of it is that he's our only chance at success. But," she said, turning to Vegita and glaring sternly at him, "don't forget that we have a deal, Vegita. We get the last two wishes, remember? We'll be counting on you to hold Freeza off of us while we make them, too. As soon as you're immortal, we're gonna need you to go take care of Freeza right away, otherwise he may get here in time to stop us from making our wishes, and maybe even make his own, if he's managed to discover the secret to it from the Nameks. If he gets his wish, you'll only end up with a stalemate. "

"Very well," Vegita said, nodding coolly. "I have no objections to your conditions, but all of you keep this in mind: if you try to double-cross me, then you won't have to worry about Freeza. There won't be enough left of you for him to recognize!" With that, he strode off into the recovery room, scowling at them all in turn as he left.

Kuririn let out all the air that he'd been holding in since Vegita first started speaking. "Whew!" he said. "Man, that guy has got one hell of an attitude problem!"

"Yeah," Bulma replied dully. "I guess you're right." She didn't want to tell him that she rather preferred this side of Vegita. For some reason, she found him a lot more bearable if he was fuming like a spoiled child. It was his quiet, probing stares that gave her the creeps.

"Bulma," Kuririn said, realizing that this was his chance. "I get the feeling that this may be hard for you to tell me, but I have to know. What happened to you before Vegita put you in the rejuvenation tank?"

Bulma flinched visibly, and although she tried to work up an irritated look to shoot at him, she was too upset to pull it off. Suddenly it occurred to her that Vegita hadn't told them anything. It really struck her as odd, considering the way he always seemed to relish any opportunity to make her look or sound weak.

Jees had said that she was weak too, but he had said that it was simply because she was a woman. Was she really at such a terrible disadvantage, when push came to shove? Was she forever doomed to lose her battles, simply because of her gender? She felt her face grow hot as she realized that neither Kuririn nor Gohan would have panicked or lost their minds in the way she had, because Jees wouldn't have done to them what he'd done to her. Maybe he had been right after all. Her simply being a woman made her more vulnerable and pathetic, didn't it? She certainly hadn't seen Goku sobbing and screaming like she had.

"Bulma?" Kuririn said, jerking her away from her thoughts. "What's happened to you? Why are you so scared of Vegita lately? I know he used to scare you a lot in the past, but he kept Jees from killing you, right? Shouldn't that lessen the fear a little?"

Bulma could see right away that this was a loaded question. She glanced at Kuririn with a look that begged him not to continue, but he was too intent on finding the truth to pay it any heed.

"Come on, Bulma," he said, looking her straight in the eyes and putting a hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch and turn away from him. Kuririn's eyes narrowed. "Did Vegita do something to you?" he asked earnestly. "I'm right, aren't I? It was Vegita, wasn't it? What did he do, Bulma? If he's done something horrible to you, I swear, I'll..."

Bulma quickly shook her head. "Just let it go, Kuririn," she interrupted him, her voice quiet but not altogether steady. "Vegita didn't do anything to me except put me in the rejuvenation tank to heal. Don't worry about it. If something was going on that I thought you should know, I'd tell you." She got up to leave, but after reconsidering something as she paused in the doorway, she turned back around.

"Hey Kuririn," she said, smiling kindly at him.

"Yeah?" he said attentively.

"Thanks for worrying about me," she told him, waving at him and Gohan before slipping noiselessly out into the hallway.

"She didn't have any bruises," Gohan remarked as she left. "I don't think he beat her up or anything. He said that it would take Dad several hours to heal, but she'd only been in there for one."

"There are different ways to hurt people besides beating them up, Gohan," Kuririn sighed. "Vegita is one unpredictable bastard, and I don't trust him at all. If Bulma's this shaken up around him, he obviously did _something_ to her_._ We need to be careful from now on. It might not be a good idea to let him be alone with her again."

Bulma glanced at Vegita on her way past the recovery room. He was sound asleep, sitting at the foot of the rejuvenation tank that Goku was sleeping in. Bulma wondered momentarily why Vegita was so tired, but she decided that the fight with Ginyu must have drained him. His mouth twitched, and his brow sunk down a little. Whatever it was he was dreaming about wasn't making him happy. She shivered. Even in his sleep, Vegita made her uncomfortable. She walked as quickly and quietly as she could down the hallway, leaving Vegita to his dreams.

It wasn't difficult to find an exit out of Freeza's ship. There were even several that hadn't been part of the original design, thanks to the efforts of both her and Vegita. As soon as she was outside, she shot off like a bullet for Saichorou's.

She focused her chi sense straight ahead of her and located Freeza almost immediately. Nail was there too, and his chi had intensified a great deal. Maybe he was defending Saichorou and Dende. She could just barely sense Saichorou, but Dende's signal was surprisingly clear and strong. She contemplated this for a couple of seconds and monitored his presence carefully, until she realized that he was becoming so easy to read because he was getting closer to her. Judging from how quickly his chi was intensifying, he was moving very quickly – with a speed that was far beyond anything she would have thought he was capable of. Bulma decided to stop on her way and ask him what news he could tell her. On second thought, however, she decided that she'd teleport him to Freeza's compound so that he could be under Kuririn and Gohan's protection. This was no time for Dende to be flying around and drawing attention to himself.

It was another fifteen minutes before she was close enough to see him coming. She stopped and waited for him to come to her. He stopped about half of the way there when he spied her hovering in wait for him, and he started backing away from her, a look of terror spreading across his panicking face. Bulma suddenly remembered what she was wearing, and she realized that Dende probably didn't recognize her now that she wore the armor of Freeza and his men.

"Wait, Dende!" she called out to him. "It's me! Bulma!" She flew up to him to show him that she was who she said she was, and a smile of relief washed over his face. However, his eyes soon filled with tears, and he dove into Bulma's open arms, crying hysterically.

"He's going to kill them!" Dende wailed. "He's going to kill Nail and Saichorou!" He buried his face in her neck and sobbed violently. Bulma looked down at him with a grim frown. No decent child like him should ever have to be put through such hell.

"I know you're afraid, and you deserve to let it all out," Bulma said, rubbing his back and trying to sound comforting, "but now is the time to act, and we don't have time for our tears just yet. Don't worry, Dende; we're going to take care of Freeza. I'm on my way over there now, so I can teleport him away from Saichorou and Nail. I know you're worried, but I'm afraid that I can't take you with me, little one. It'll be hard enough for me to pull this off as it is. I left Gohan and Kuririn back at Freeza's compound with Vegita. We're planning to use the dragonballs as soon as we figure out how to call the dragon. I have them hidden nearby, and once I find out from Saichorou how to use them, I'm going to teleport over there and bring everyone to where they are. In the meantime, however, I'm going to teleport you over to where Gohan and Kuririn are. You can't stay out here in the open like this, or someone may spot you." She let him go and prepared to send him off to Freeza's compound.

"No, wait!" he cried. "You need to come with me then! Saichorou sent me to tell you how to call the dragon and make the wishes! He said you wouldn't know how otherwise!"

"Wait a minute!" Bulma gasped. "Do you mean to tell me that you know how to call the dragon?!"

Dende nodded fiercely. "Yes," he said quickly. "All Namek children learn that at an early age."

"Dende, you're wonderful!" she cried, seizing him and nearly crushing him in a fierce hug. "Come on! In that case, I'll teleport us both there right away!"

He nodded, and she immediately vaulted them both into frozen time. She flew back with him until they were near the lake she'd hidden the dragonballs in. There she stopped her teleport and lightly dropped with him down to the ground at the water's edge.

"Wait here," she said. "I hid the dragonballs down there in the lake. I'm going to go get Kuririn and Gohan now, okay?" He nodded. "See you in a nanosecond!" she cried, stopping time and shooting off for Freeza's compound. It took her a little while to get there, but when she did, she simply raced through the various hallways and into the room with the boys, not bothering to halt her teleport as she went. She grabbed Kuririn and Gohan and then she pulled them along behind her all the way out of the compound before taking them to the lake. By the time they had arrived at their destination, she was rather winded, as it had been a real sprint to travel the two-hundred plus miles back and forth from the lake to Freeza's compound. She set them down beside Dende, and she finally let time flow again. She bent over, panting anxiously, and she tried to catch her breath as Kuririn and Gohan fell over from lack of balance.

"Gah!" they cried together, falling into each other comically. They glanced around in confusion for a couple of seconds, before they saw Dende and Bulma.

"Bulma!" Gohan cried. "You teleported us here, didn't you?"

"Yes," she said hastily. "Sorry for not warning you, but I couldn't take the chance that Vegita might hear me. I ran into Dende on the way to Saichorou's, and guess what? He knows how to call the dragon!"

"All right, Dende!" Kuririn cried, smacking him heartily on the back - and completely startling him in the process. "You're a lifesaver, kid, do you know that?"

Dende only smiled. Kuririn grinned first at him and then at Bulma.

"So it's back to plan B, right Bulma?" he asked excitedly. "I'm assuming that since you left Vegita back there that you're not including him in these wishes."

"That's right," she said. "But we'd better hurry before he wakes up. I feel kind of jumpy about leaving him back there unguarded while we do this."

"Gotcha," Kuririn said, nodding in agreement. He looked around for a few seconds. They were standing right in front of the lake, which was shielded on one side by a ten-foot rock face that stretched back for a few hundred feet. There really wasn't much else to speak of in the way of distinguishing features. "All right," he said at last, shrugging. "I give up. I don't see the dragonballs anywhere, Bulma. Tell me, where are they, anyway?"

"I hid the dragonballs in the lake here," Bulma explained. "We won't have to go get them, though. We can still call the dragon from up here, right, Dende? They are all together down there, after all."

"Right," Dende said. "Do you want me to call him now?"

"Please," Bulma said, nodding at him. "The sooner the better."

Dende nodded. He stretched his arms over the water and began speaking in his native tongue.

"Takkarato po Porunga pupirittoparo!" he cried out. Bulma gave a start as she recognized the words as being identical to the ones she'd used - with one exception. She'd referred to their dragon as Shenlon, instead of using Porunga, his real name. She smacked her forehead as she realized that Nail had already mentioned Porunga's name to her once before. She couldn't believe that she'd actually tried to call the wrong dragon!

Bubbles began to rise out of the water, and a faint glow appeared at the bottom of the lake. Kuririn nudged Bulma in the side.

"Hey, Bulma," he said. "Didn't you say the same thing?"

"No," she said, shaking her head in disgust. "I forgot that their dragon's name is Porunga. I called him Shenlon. I even got the phraseology right. It was just that damn name that I messed up. I feel so stupid!"

"Wait a minute!" Dende said, as the ground trembled slightly and the water began to boil ferociously. "Bulma can speak our language?"

"Yes, I can," she replied. "Didn't Nail tell you?"

"No," Dende said. "You have no idea how close you were! It wouldn't have mattered which summoning phrase you'd used, just as long as you said Porunga's name and asked him in our tongue to come forth!"

Bulma smacked her forehead again. Well, that was about typical of her luck! She looked at Kuririn and shrugged. He shot her an "it's okay" look, and then they both watched Porunga burst out of the water and begin to grow.

Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn stared in awe as the biggest, widest, most un-Shenlonlike dragon shot up and out of the water. He was enormous! While Shenlon looked more like a long snake, Porunga was a thick, lizard-like giant of a dragon who did an impressive job of intimidating Bulma. She backed up nervously, ready to bolt in case he was more temperamental than Shenlon was.

"Greetings, mortals," he rumbled loudly. "I shall grant thee the first three wishes uttered by those present, and no more. What is thy first request?"

Dende looked at Bulma expectantly. "Go ahead," he said. "Tell him what you want to wish for. Be sure to say it in Namekian, though. He only grants wishes said using our language."

"All right," she said nervously, looking up at Porunga. She cleared her throat and spoke in a loud, clear voice. "I wish for the Earth warriors named Piccolo, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Chouzu to be resurrected from the dead. Please," she added, remembering her manners just in time.

Porunga's red eyes narrowed a little. "I cannot," he said after a short pause. "I am only permitted to bring one person back to life per wish."

Bulma gasped. "What?!" she cried. She stared at Gohan and Kuririn in horror. "What are we going to do?" she cried in dismay. "There are only three wishes! And we were gonna wish the Nameks back to life, too! We can't even wish all our friends on Earth back, let alone all of the Nameks!"

Gohan suddenly gasped. "Hey!" he cried. "It's Piccolo-san! I can hear his voice in my head! Hi, Piccolo-san!"

"Oh great," Bulma thought nervously. "What a time for Gohan to lose it!"

"Wow!" Gohan cried. "What a great idea! Yeah, I'll tell them!" Gohan turned to Kuririn and Bulma. "Piccolo-san is at Kaio-sama's," he said excitedly. "He just told me that we need to wish him back first. That way Kami will come back to life too, and the dragonballs will appear back on Earth. We'll be able to use them to wish all the Nameks back!"

"Tell Piccolo to say hi to Kami when he gets back to Earth," Bulma exclaimed, snapping the fingers on her right hand, "because they're both about to rejoin the living!"

She told Porunga to bring Piccolo back to life, and once again, the dragon's eyes narrowed. "A simple matter," he said, and he glowed with a red aura for a couple of seconds. "It is done," he said finally.

"We did it," Gohan said with tears in his eyes. "The dragon granted our wish, Piccolo-san!"

"Does he have any more suggestions?" Bulma asked. "We still have two wishes left."

"Piccolo-san, are you sure?" Gohan gasped. He paused. "Well, okay, I'll tell her." Gohan looked back up at Bulma. "He says he wants you to wish him to Namek," he told her. "He wants to defend his home planet from Freeza."

"What?" Bulma gasped. She thought hard for a few seconds, and her expression became very grave. "Does he realize that if he dies here, we'll lose the chance to use the Earth's dragonballs?" she asked Gohan grimly.

"He says he knows," Gohan replied, nodding. "Kaio's pretty mad at him, but Piccolo-san says that this is what he wants to do."

"All right," Bulma sighed, shaking her head in defeat. "I hope he knows what he's doing."

She gave Porunga the order. His eyes narrowed again. "A simple matter," he said, and he glowed red as he had before. "It is done," he said again. They looked around for Piccolo, but he was nowhere to be found. They couldn't even sense him.

"Where is he?" Bulma asked aloud. "I thought you said you brought him here!"

"I brought him to Namek," Porunga rumbled impatiently, "but you never said you wanted him in your presence!"

"Oh great!" Bulma groaned. "I should have been more specific! So what should we do now, guys? We still have one wish le-..." She stopped short as she felt something that she should have sensed long ago. That chi was nearly upon them!

"What's the matter?" Kuririn asked, having become very anxious as he watched Bulma. She was trembling so much she could hardly stand, but she managed to turn around until she was looking at something behind them.

"Ve- Ve- Veg- g-..." She stuttered, pointing shakily to the quickly approaching Saiyan. She could feel his rage as he raced toward them, and it kept her rooted in place, too petrified to move. He was going to kill them all!

"Oh my God!" Kuririn gasped, as he spun around and looked. "We're in for it now! Vegita's going to kill us for this!"

"Snap out of it!" Bulma's mind screamed at her. "Run for it! Grab everyone and teleport away! He can't get his wish granted anyway, because he doesn't know the language! Get the hell outta here!"

Sadly, her body refused to comply. She suddenly felt very lightheaded and woozy, and she was afraid she was going to faint. As she fought desperately to clear her head and regain control of her senses, an idea flashed in her mind, and she suddenly knew exactly what had to be done. She steeled her nerves and rigidly stood her ground as the others backed away.

"Stay where you are!" she barked at them. "Let me handle this. We'll have to give Vegita what he wants anyway if we want to win against Freeza. Goku's in no condition to fight him, and only the gods know where Piccolo is right now. Just be quiet and let me do the talking."

Vegita raced up as she finished, and Bulma did her best to keep from shaking. "Damn you three!" he screamed. "Didn't I tell you what I'd do to you if you tried anything with me?! I've a good mind to blast you all into oblivion right now!"

"Try it," Bulma said coldly, "and just see how well this dragon will grant your wish. You can't speak Namek, Vegita, and he'll only answer to wishes made in his own tongue."

In an enraged frenzy Vegita rushed forward, grabbed her roughly around the neck, and he lifted her several inches above the ground. "Do you really think you can get away with defying me?" he yelled. "We had a deal, woman!"

Bulma didn't struggle against him; nor did she show any clear, visible signs of the terror she was experiencing at that moment. It was absolutely imperative that she not provoke the angry man. She knew that all too well.

"We still do," she replied slowly, trying to sound as calm and collected possible despite her difficulty breathing, "but I shifted the order a bit. I didn't trust you not to destroy the dragonballs once your wish was granted, so I made our wishes first. There's one wish left, Vegita, and it's yours, so if you'll take your hands off of me and stop throwing tantrums, I just might give the dragon your wish!" She tried her best to sound angry and authoritative, and she actually did a pretty good job of it. Truth be told, however, she felt far more terrified than she did angry. It was her own will to survive that was making this excellent bit of acting possible. Fortunately for her, it must have been convincing enough for Vegita, because he tossed her backwards, whereupon she landed on her tail with a grunt.

"Make the wish!" he hissed at her. Bulma knew he really would have killed her if he'd had any idea what she was about to do. At least she could be sure that he wouldn't understand what she was going to tell Porunga.

"Fine," she said soberly, shooting him a mild glare as she got to her feet. "Porunga!" she cried, switching her mind back into Namekian and turning to look up at the impatient dragon. "I wish for you to make Vegita immortal for three hou-..." She stopped as Porunga suddenly began to flicker like a fluorescent light bulb. "What's happening?" she cried out in surprise.

Porunga roared in agony before suddenly disappearing entirely, leaving the seven dragonballs in a tight ring up high in the air. They suddenly flew off in radial directions, only to land just a few hundred yards away from each other. They had already turned back into stones.

"Oh no," Dende sobbed, sinking weakly to the ground. "He... he's gone. Saichorou is gone!"

Vegita growled like an enraged beast and seized the already petrified Bulma off of the ground by her arms - just as Jees had done before. Something snapped in Bulma's mind, and she suddenly found herself reliving her experience with Jees all over again. Her pupils dilated and she began to tremble violently. She was no longer aware of where she was, or that it was Vegita's powerful hands that held her immobile. All that she could see was Jees, along with his smoldering gaze and sadistic grin.

"_No_!" she screamed, shaking her head violently. "Put me down! Please God, not again!" She began to scream at the top of her lungs and thrash about wildly, with every muscle in her body straining and fighting him with all its might.

Vegita was so surprised that he actually dropped her. It didn't take him long to realize what his actions had reawakened in her, but by now he was too furious to care. She was still cringing and cowering on the ground at his feet, so he picked her up again by one of her arms and slapped her viciously across the side of her face. The shock of the blow immediately jerked Bulma back to her senses. "Shut up and snap out of it," he roared ferociously, "or by the seven hells, I _will_ give you something to scream about! Now tell me! Am I immortal or not?!" she stared up at him, numb with terror and unable to speak. Her arm began to throb from the force of his grip. "Answer me!" he yelled, giving her a rough shake as his chi flared dramatically.

"I- I never got to finish the wish," she stuttered, hardly able to breathe. "No. You aren't."

Vegita was so angry that he couldn't even speak. Bulma had only seen him this angry once, and at that time the anger had resulted in Jees' death. This time, it was directed at her and her friends, and Bulma had a terrible understanding of what was coming. Vegita flung her at Kuririn and Gohan, knocking them over and causing the three to form a tangled, protesting pile.

"You've just sealed your doom," Vegita snarled, lowering his face but retaining his gaze on Bulma and her friends. Bulma could feel his chi intensifying. This was it; they were done for. However, the death blow never came, as all at once he looked up at the ledge behind them, and his enraged expression quickly deflated into one of horror. Bulma looked up, and she saw what had cooled Vegita's rage so rapidly. Freeza was standing up there, and he was glaring down at them with a look so terrible that Bulma realized at once that Vegita had missed his chance to kill them; Freeza was going to beat him to it.

"What have we here?" he asked very calmly and quietly. "Why wasn't I invited to your little party?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Freeza's Wrath**

Freeza looked them over slowly, his cold stare falling upon each of them in turn as he sized them up. "The gang's all here, I see," he said with a sneer. "It seems you have a few partners in crime, Vegita. Starting a little rebellion against me, eh?"

Vegita snorted. "They're no partners of mine," he said, straightening up. "I don't need them to defeat you, Freeza."

"I see," Freeza replied, smirking back. He glanced back down at Bulma again and smiled. "So we meet again," he said, nodding politely at her in greeting. "You cut our last encounter short, did you not? I hope you intend to stay and chat a little longer this time."

Bulma frowned at him. She had already resigned herself to the fact that she was as good as dead anyway. She might as well get a final dig in on Freeza before she bit the big one. "Quit the confident act, Freeza," she said coldly. "You've lost and you know it. Even after you kill us, you will still have lost. Do you remember what I said to you when we first met? I said that I would do whatever I could to keep you from winning. Well, I've done just that, Freeza. I doubt I could have done it so easily without your help, though. Now that Saichorou is dead, the dragonballs have lost their power. Your plans are ruined, so I have succeeded. You will be shadowed by your own mortality for the rest of your life." She sneered as she added a final insult to her cool assessment. "How very _common_, don't you agree?"

Freeza clenched his fists and bared his teeth. It was more than obvious that Bulma's words had rubbed him the wrong way. Still, he quickly regained his composure and smiled at her again. "That's all the more reason to make your death a long, painful one," he replied with a dainty laugh, his eyes burning at her with hatred.

Bulma just glared at him defiantly. "Face it, Freeza," she said icily. "If we don't succeed in destroying you, sooner or later, someone else will. You're not infallible, you know. One day, you will find out that you're no longer the strongest in the universe, and on that day, you will pay for your crimes against all the civilizations and lives you've destroyed!"

Freeza just snorted at her. "You're spouting nonsense," he said haughtily. "There's no one in the universe who can defeat me, and there never will be."

"You're wrong," Vegita said, stepping forward a bit. "And I'm going to prove it to you."

Freeza glared distastefully at him. "I would expect to hear such ignorance from her," he said, jerking his nose in her direction. "But you should have learned your place long ago, Vegita. You're nothing compared to me, and today you'll finally come to grips with that when I snuff out your life like a pitiful little candle!"

"I say you're wrong," Vegita growled. "You underestimate how much I've improved, Freeza. Don't forget about a certain property that we Saiyans possess in our physical makeup. Do you recall what happens when we recover from nearly fatal injuries? Have you already forgotten how much it increases our power? It was this very property that caused you to destroy my home planet and kill all of my people, was it not, you coward? To be perfectly honest, I don't really give a damn about any of them. They were all weaklings, with the possible exception of my father, and even he was a fool. Even so, I'm going to dedicate your death to them: the only race of people that you ever feared, and the only race of people that could produce an end to your reign."

"Bold words indeed," Freeza laughed, grinning at him. "I recall your father saying something similar before I incinerated him. He was a fool; it's true, but you sound exactly like him, my dear Vegita."

Vegita growled angrily. "The sound of your voice irritates me to no end," he said, his chi flaring up. "I think it's time we get started, don't you?"

"Whatever you say," Freeza replied with a smug grin. He sailed down toward Vegita and landed just a couple of feet away from him. He was right in Vegita's face.

Vegita threw a right hook at Freeza's face, and Freeza caught his fist in his left hand. Freeza then threw the same punch back at Vegita, which Vegita caught just as easily. They began pushing against one another, each one beginning to power up tremendously in an effort to keep up with the other. They continued to grapple in this way for what seemed like an eternity. The ground all around them began to shake, and they each began to yell as their chi auras pressed against each other explosively. The ground underneath them began to crumble and break apart, and their chis dug a small crater underneath them, which continued to grow in size.

Bulma and the rest of the group backed away a good twenty yards. The intensity of Vegita and Freeza's chis was too great for them to remain where they were.

"I can't believe it!" Bulma yelled loudly over the roar. "It seems almost as if Vegita and Freeza are evenly matched!"

"Yeah!" Kuririn shouted back at her. "Do you remember what Vegita said about Saiyans getting stronger after recovering from severe injuries? Doesn't that remind you of Goku?"

"It sure does!" Bulma agreed. "And didn't I hear Vegita say that Freeza destroyed his home planet? I thought Raditz said it was hit by a comet!"

"Maybe Raditz was wrong and didn't know," Kuririn said, shrugging. "Maybe he was lying. Does it really matter?"

"I guess not," Bulma sighed. "Oh well. You know, I don't really know who to root for here, honestly. I'd say we're as good as dead anyway, even if Vegita does win, considering the fact that he's not been granted his wish. That was the only reason he let us live in the first place. If he actually does kill Freeza, he'll probably kill us too, simply out of spite."

"Yeah," Kuririn said, frowning dejectedly. "I guess it's a no-win situation for us, isn't it? But still, barring all that, I don't think I'd know who to root for anyway. I'm willing to bet that both of them intend to rule the universe, and I don't consider either of them to be good Universal Emperor material."

"I just wish my dad was healed already," Gohan said, his bottom lip quivering a little. "We don't even know how long he'll be in that healing tank, do we?"

Dende looked at Gohan curiously. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Is Goku on Namek now?"

"Yes," Kuririn said, nodding at him. "He got here just in time to help us with a really tough battle. He got beaten up pretty bad, though, and he's healing in one of the rejuvenation tanks on Freeza's ship. Gohan's right. We could really use his help right now. We'd never even be able to handle Vegita, let alone Freeza. But after hearing what Vegita said about Saiyan physiology, I'll bet Goku could."

"He's that strong?!" Dende cried incredulously.

Bulma smiled. "That's always been our reaction whenever we see Goku fight," she said. "Goku never ceases to amaze us. I suppose now we know why."

"And all he needs is to be healed of his physical injuries, and he can come and fight for us?" Dende asked excitedly.

Kuririn nodded slowly, looking at Dende with an very confused look. "Why are you so excited?" he asked him. "It could take Goku several hours to heal completely! There's no way we'll be able to hold out against them that long!"

"We won't have to!" Dende cried excitedly. "I can heal him! Saichorou gave me that power just before I left him to meet you three out here! If you just take me to Goku, I can have him completely healed in less than a minute!"

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan shared a gasp of surprise. This was an unheard of stroke of good luck!

"Bulma!" Kuririn cried. "Teleport with Dende to Freeza's compound right away! We need Goku now!"

Bulma's mind was racing in her excitement, but she was still able to think of the one snag in this idea. "Hold it," she said, raising a hand to calm him down. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we shouldn't bring Goku here just yet. Think about it. If we brought him here now, he'd have both Freeza and Vegita to deal with. I don't care how much stronger Goku's gotten; I don't like those odds one bit. I think we should wait until one of them kills or knocks out the other. There's no point in healing Goku just to have Freeza and Vegita gang up on him and kill him."

"I can't argue with that," Kuririn said unhappily. "You've definitely got a point there, Bulma."

"I guess I agree too," Gohan sighed, obviously disappointed.

They all watched Freeza and Vegita with apprehension. By now, their chis had dug a crater so deep that neither Freeza nor Vegita was visible. Only their chi auras, which roared thunderously against one another, could be seen shooting up into the air. Neither of them was giving an inch.

Suddenly Freeza and Vegita stopped pushing against one another, and they instead shot up to opposite ends of the rim of the crater. They glared at each other in frustration. Neither had gained any ground on the other, but Bulma had a sneaking suspicion that Vegita was actually holding back a little. He really didn't seem all that overexerted.

"My, my, Vegita," Freeza said, putting his hands on his hips. "I must say, I'm greatly impressed! You've had a marked improvement indeed! Just how many times did my men beat the living shit out of you, anyway?"

"You always did fancy yourself quite the comedian, didn't you, Freeza?" Vegita said with a sneer, his eyebrows twitching a little. "But rest assured that this is no joke. I just happened to learn an interesting fact about you recently. This is not your true form, is it? Your pet prettyboy Zarbon confided your little secret in me before I blew him to pieces. Stop holding back on me, Freeza. I wouldn't be satisfied with my victory unless I knew that I'd utterly defeated you!"

Bulma gasped. What was Vegita saying? Was he actually telling Freeza to make himself stronger? Was Vegita insane?

Freeza smirked at Vegita coyly, and his tail curled a little at the tip. "So you know my little secret, eh?" he said, chuckling softly. "I must confess, Vegita, I'd feel rather ashamed of myself if I were forced to transform in order to defeat you. However, I'll just think of it as granting a dying man his last request. If you'd like to see me transform, then I will."

Vegita grinned smugly, and Bulma and the others looked on in horror as Freeza began his transformation. Freeza's chi immediately began to skyrocket, and he bent over a bit in his fierce concentration. Suddenly he began to grow in size! He continued growing even after his battle armor cracked and eventually split apart to fly off in all directions. Vegita laughed.

"You'll have to do a lot more than strip down if you want to defeat me, Freeza!" he exclaimed.

Still growing and intensifying in power, Freeza grinned back at him. "I never had to transform to defeat your father, Vegita," he said, his voice having become a little deeper than before. "I remember when he led that little rebellion against me so many years ago. He thought he could defeat me just like you do. I killed him with only one hit. One hit! Oh, he was a sight, but I think the real highlight of that day was your planet's glorious explosion. Ah, yes. It certainly was a grand explosion. I never have created such a marvelous planetary explosion since!" He laughed with a sadistic gleam in his eyes as he finished his metamorphosis.

Bulma stared, horrified, at Freeza's new form. He had more than doubled his size, and the sheer strength of his chi was unimaginable! He looked a lot more like an adult in this form, but for the most part, his general physical features were the same. They were the same, that is, except for his horns. They had grown longer and each made a sharp right angle upward at the center. He really did look like some kind of demon in this form, she thought to herself.

"This is getting bad, guys," Bulma said, backing up a little. "His chi's so enormous it makes my head hurt! What kind of nightmare have we stumbled into?"

Vegita rolled his eyes. "So he grew a couple feet and split out of his armor," he said dismissively. "Big deal. I can't believe that this was your big transformation, Freeza! What a joke!"

Freeza chuckled a bit. "Yes," he said. "A joke. I'm sure you really do think so, Vegita. Would you care to hear another? Guess how powerful I am in this state! Just try to guess, in terms of the degrees on a scouter, how high my power has risen!"

"Tch," Vegita snorted. "Why should I bother? This 'transformation' of yours was nothing more than a big sideshow!"

"No," Bulma said, shaking her head in horror. "In his first form I estimated his power to be at around five-hundred thousand. He's at least doubled his original power, Vegita! I can't believe you allowed him to increase his power like this, you arrogant fool!"

Freeza laughed. "I forgot!" he said jovially, grinning at Bulma. "You have the ability to estimate an opponent's battle power, don't you? Well, you're right again. In my current state, my power is just a little over one million degrees!"

"You're lying!" Vegita yelled. "That's impossible, and you know it!" In a fit of rage, he fired an enormous blast at Freeza.

"Get back!" Bulma cried, grabbing Dende and shooting up into the air. "This one's gonna be huge!"

Gohan and Kuririn shot up after her, just as the blast hit. Bulma had been right. It hit Freeza with a force that would have swept them all away, had they not shot up to get out of the massive explosion's reach.

"Guys, I don't think Goku would be able to handle Freeza now," Bulma said, her face pale. "It was doubtful earlier, but it's just plain impossible now." She looked down at Dende, who had his face buried in her chest. He was shaking with fear.

Neither Kuririn nor Gohan said anything in reply. There really wasn't anything for them to say. They were both sure she was right. Things looked utterly hopeless, not only for them, but also for the fate of Namek and Earth alike.

Suddenly a figure popped up and out of the top of the debris cloud caused by Vegita's blast. It flew over at tremendous speed until it was less than twenty feet away, where it stopped. It was Freeza, and he was, not surprisingly, unharmed by Vegita's blast.

"You four weren't really planning to leave, now were you?" he asked with a smug grin. "I know you wouldn't want to hurt my feelings!" For a split second, Bulma felt a jolt in his chi, and she knew an attack was coming. Like a flash, she stopped time. She cried out in surprise at what she saw. Freeza was right in front of her, with his left horn pointed at Dende's neck, only a few inches away! What terrible speed! She had never even seen him move!

Bulma flew with Dende down to the rock hill by the lake. She set him down behind it so that he was hidden from view, and then she flew back up to where Freeza, Kuririn, and Gohan were. She hovered in front of Freeza for a second, wondering what she should do. She looked over at Kuririn as she thought, and an image of what she had done to him on the way to Namek flashed in her mind. "That's it!" she cried, as an idea came to her. She untied her headband and took it off. She tied it around Freeza's face, being sure to cover his eyes with it. She made sure it was on tightly and that both his eyes were securely covered before she flew around behind him - out of the range of his horns - and let time flow again.

Freeza came to a grinding halt only ten feet away, but Bulma didn't allow him any time to react. She sailed at him full force, beginning with a fierce blow to his side, and she continued by dealing him some violent blows to his back.

"Come on, guys, I can't do this by myself!" she yelled back to the astonished Kuririn and Gohan as she continued to pummel Freeza's back.

Gohan and Kuririn got over their surprise, and they raced after her, brandishing their fists. They shot around to the other side of Freeza and started pounding his stomach.

Freeza growled angrily as his hands flew to his eyes. Bulma grabbed his arms and yanked them behind his back, hoping to pin them there. The longer she could keep that headband on, the better. With incredible ease, however, Freeza yanked his arms back forward, slamming Bulma into his back with terrific force, and stunning her a bit in the process. He felt the headband briefly - all the while ignoring Gohan and Kuririn's punches. He suddenly ripped the headband from his eyes, tearing it into three separate pieces, which he flung to the ground.

He kicked Gohan away in one direction, and he slammed his fist into Kuririn's face, propelling him in the opposite direction. He then reached behind him, grabbed the somewhat dazed Bulma by her head, and swung her completely over and in front of him.

"You die first," he whispered in her ear, and he flung her by her head at the ground with tremendous speed. Bulma had no time to react. She hit the ground in less than a tenth of a second, and she could only begin to spin around in an effort to move back-first, rather than head-first. She was a good three feet in the ground before she accomplished this, and she plowed in another twenty before she could stop herself completely. She was in pain everywhere, and she felt almost as if her neck was broken. Fortunately, though, her spinning around onto her back had distributed the impact more evenly across her body, and she'd managed to spare her spine a lot of damage. Although she was in a lot of pain, she wasn't very badly injured. Cursing in frustration, she quickly charged up her chi to heat things up a bit. She burned a little cavity in the soil with her chi, and when she had enough room to move, she crouched down low and she shot up through the loose and crumbly dirt, burning a tunnel with a chi blast as she went. When she broke through the surface, she found herself right in front of Freeza, who had apparently been waiting for her.

"How rude of you to leave without a proper dismissal!" Freeza chided her, wagging a finger at her in mock rebuke.

"Oh, I _do_ beg your pardon!" Bulma exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I hope I haven't hurt your delicate feelings beyond repair!" She brushed some dirt off her arms, glaring at him angrily. She wouldn't have minded being beaten up by this monster as much if he didn't act so damn smug.

Freeza laughed heartily. "You can rest assured that I don't take offense very easily," he said, grinning. "However, I do expect you to at least stick around for the fun!" He lunged at her then, and she could tell right away that he was really holding back on her, due to the fact that she was finding it not altogether difficult to defend herself from his blows.

As he pressed her farther and farther, she fought fiercely against him, trying desperately to get a good hit in so that she could break away enough to have time to teleport to safety. However, he was aware of her tricks by now, and he wasn't giving her any chance to break free of his onslaught. Every time she tried to back away, he just closed in on her some more. She was beginning to get very frustrated and angry with him. She knew full well that he was just doing this to wear her down and humiliate her. This was totally unnecessary and he knew it; he could kill her with one deadly blast if he so chose, but he was instead drawing her defeat out so as to make it all the more painful for her, and all the more satisfying to him. She hated him for that - for taking such pleasure in her suffering.

Bulma dwelled on these thoughts in building fury as she struggled against Freeza's flurry of punches and kicks. He could tell that he was making her frustrated and angry, so he decided to see just how mad he could make her.

"I never have met a woman yet who could fight to any level of ability worth mentioning," he laughed as she tried time and time again to hit him, while at the same time having to dodge his shots at her. "There must be some truth to the old belief that women don't belong on the battlefield. You're just another point in favor of that belief, aren't you? You know quite well that the only way you'll be able to get away from me is if one of your big strong boys comes to rescue you! You must feel so helpless, you poor little thing!" He laughed some more and moved back a bit to give Bulma a chance to react to his words.

Freeza hadn't known what Jees had said and done to Bulma, but even if he had, he might have said what he did anyway. Either way, when she heard his words, something snapped in Bulma's mind. Her eyes flashed with a fire that had never ignited there before. An overwhelming surge of anger arose from deep within the recesses of her mind and overcame all sense of reason that had previously been guiding her actions. With an unnatural scream of rage and hatred, she launched a strangely powerful and aggressive attack on him, and she caught him off guard due to her immediate increase in speed and strength. She dove into him and slammed punch after punch into his ribs, forcing him farther and farther backward. She had one thought and one thought alone pounding inside the walls of her mind: beat Freeza senseless!

She didn't care anymore that she was the weakest fighter of the group. She didn't care that she was scared out of her mind. She didn't even care that it was nothing short of a certainty that she would die today! She was no longer aware of these things. They had all been replaced by the desire to beat the ever-loving tar out of this smirking, self-satisfied, pompous, and all around insufferable maniac! Without showing the slightest sign of fatigue, she slammed a right hook into the side of his face so hard that he spun around five and one-half times before she stopped him with a fierce jerk on his arm. She clamped onto it with both hands and began to twirl him around and around in a heavily tilted, circular path.

"Eat some dirt, you worm!" she screamed savagely, slinging him to the ground with incredible force. Before he even managed to hit the ground, Bulma had her blast ready.

"Kyaaah!!!" she screamed, firing an extraordinarily powerful blast directly at the stunned Freeza. It began to explode on contact, and since she kept it going for a good thirty seconds, it was more than sufficient to keep Freeza pinned and immobile. That wasn't the end to Freeza's punishment, however. The massive explosion created a crater so large that it reached the edge of the lake and beyond, causing the water to rush into it after she had finally finished. She glared into the steaming water, her eyes still ablaze with crazed fury, which had only just begun to gradually cool down and abate. She began to pant a little, but she grinned cruelly down at the newly formed addition to the lake below. She hoped that dirty old Freeza appreciated the bath she'd just given him!

Gohan, Kuririn, and even Vegita gaped at Bulma in awestruck silence. Who could have guessed that she was capable of such things? Well, apparently she hadn't either, because she suddenly gasped in surprise as she regained the presence of rational thought, and as the full reality of what she had just accomplished hit her all at once. Her exertions began to catch up with her, and she suddenly found herself becoming overwhelmingly tired.

Kuririn and Gohan rushed over - leaving a safe distance between them and Bulma - with shocked expressions on their faces. Kuririn was the first to speak.

"What happened?" he asked her in astonishment. "How did you do that, Bulma?"

"I... I don't know," she said, pressing her left hand against her forehead in an effort to stop her head from swimming. "I think I just did something that my body really wasn't ready for." She looked at them woozily, wondering why there was two of each of them all of the sudden.

Suddenly, all the water in the crater below erupted into an enormous pillar of steam and foam as Freeza shot out of it and up into the air. Bulma and the boys watched in horror as he flew up to be level with them. He had a look of complete and utter hatred on his face, and he was staring at Bulma, with his cold eyes narrowed, and his teeth bared.

"Congratulations!" he snarled icily, glaring forcefully at her. "You've just accomplished the impossible. No one has ever done that to me before! I was careless, and you got lucky, but guess what, you little bitch? Your luck runs out now!" Before anyone had a chance to blink, Freeza shot forward at Bulma with his arm drawn back and bent at the elbow. Bulma wouldn't have had any time to dodge even if she hadn't been slowed by her pain and fatigue. Freeza moved with lightning speed, and Bulma never knew what happened until it had already happened.

She suddenly felt a strange sensation of pressure on her abdomen, and she became aware that Freeza was no longer charging at her. Rather, he was already right in front of her, and his face was just a few inches lower than hers was. Something about the cruel, satisfied expression on his face made her blood run cold. She looked down to see Freeza's arm, or at least the part of it that was visible, sticking out of her stomach. Her armor had been cracked apart and had chunks missing down there - all of which were now dropping to the lake water below. She looked back up at Freeza's face in confusion, having not realized the full reality of her situation yet. He grinned back at her sadistically. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead vomited out a sizable amount of blood. It splattered messily on his embedded arm and rained down to the water below.

Kuririn and Gohan cried aloud in frightened horror at what had just happened to Bulma, and Freeza shot them a cruel sneer. He knew they wouldn't be so eager to take him on now.

Bulma reached shakily for Freeza's arm. She tried to pull it out, but found to her dismay that she didn't have the strength to do anything more than grasp it. She looked back up at Freeza in disbelief, still clutching his arm.

Freeza still had that evil grin on his face. Without a word, he suddenly grabbed onto Bulma's right shoulder with his left hand. He then wrenched his right arm out of her stomach, an act which made a sickening squelching sound, and produced a steady gush of blood to follow after his arm. Bulma gasped loudly, her body having suddenly been racked by an unbearably excruciating spasm of pain. This was unlike anything she'd ever felt. The love-tap Vegita had given her on earth had been nothing like this. Then all at once, she began to go numb as she slipped into a state of shock. Her body fell limp, and she would have fallen down to the lake below, if not for the fact that Freeza was still holding her up by her shoulder. He brought his other hand up in front of his face so she could see it. It was coated unevenly by her blood, and it glistened crimson in the bright Namek sunlight.

Freeza brought his fingers to his mouth and daintily licked each one clean. "Exquisite," he cooed, gazing into her dilating eyes and smiling smugly. "You have such rich, delicious blood. Don't you agree?" He wiped a bit of the blood from the corner of her mouth with his index finger, and he then poked the tip of his finger inside her open mouth and tapped her tongue with it. Bulma closed her eyes and let the tears stream down her face. She wanted to block his image out of her mind. She knew that she was going to die; her wound was most assuredly fatal. For some reason, she was able to accept that, however. The one thing that she was unable to accept was that the last image she would ever see for the rest of her life was Freeza's grinning face.

"Please," she whispered, as more blood began trickling out of her mouth. "Enough. Let me die in peace."

Freeza laughed boisterously. "You must be joking!" he cried. "I'm going to make this last for as long as I can! I wouldn't dream of wasting your death like that!"

She winced as he laughed some more, and she lolled her head to one side to look at Kuririn and Gohan. They were staring in unrivaled horror at the hole through her middle. They looked up at her face, which was by now soaked with blood and tears. "I'm sorry," she mouthed noiselessly. She couldn't speak anymore. Her lungs were too filled with her own blood to function properly.

Gohan and Kuririn had witnessed about as much as they could take. Gohan was the first to act on his rage.

"You... you... you _animal_!" he screamed, lunging at Freeza. He actually caught Freeza off guard, since he was still laughing at Bulma's plaintive request. Gohan punched him squarely in the face, causing him to lose his concentration and let go of Bulma's shoulder. Gohan continued to attack Freeza, as Bulma fell to the water below.

Bulma lost consciousness on the way down, long before she hit the water. The lack of air in her lungs made it impossible for her to float, so she began to sink as soon as she submerged. Kuririn didn't want to leave Gohan alone with Freeza, but he knew that Bulma didn't have much time.

"I'm coming, Bulma!" he yelled, shooting down toward the water. Freeza had other ideas, however. He smacked Gohan away and shot down in front of Kuririn, blocking his way.

"Oh no you don't," he laughed, grinning fiendishly at Kuririn. "You'd do well to worry about yourself instead, my friend. She's as good as gone."

Kuririn yelled in frustration as he made several unsuccessful attempts to dart around Freeza. He was able to catch a brief glimpse of Dende diving into the water below, as well as Vegita, who dove in the opposite end of the lake at about the same time. Kuririn decided that he'd let them get her to safety; Dende might even be in time to heal her, but that certainly didn't excuse what Freeza had done.

"You bastard!" he snarled at Freeza, turning his attention back toward the grinning giant in front of him. "You're going to pay dearly for that!"

"Oh, am I?" Freeza laughed, straightening himself up a bit. "I rather doubt that, little man."

"Believe it, you freak!" Gohan screamed, suddenly arriving to attack Freeza. He and Kuririn attacked simultaneously, working as a team of rage against their laughing opponent.

In the meantime, Dende had reached Bulma and pulled her up to the surface of the water. Vegita followed him up. As Dende began to pull Bulma toward the shore, Vegita swam out alongside him.

"What are you planning to do with her, kid?" he demanded gruffly.

"I've got to get her to the land quickly so that I'll be in time to heal her," he said, eyeing Vegita distrustfully. "What's it to you, Saiyan?"

Vegita stared at Dende in astonishment for a couple of seconds, not daring to believe what he had just heard. When he looked down at Bulma's pale face and blue lips, he decided that he had no choice but to believe the brat's claim. "Fine," he said, taking Bulma from Dende. "I'll carry her then. You follow me." He flew with Bulma to the side of the hill that was beyond Freeza's view - in the same place that Bulma had taken Dende before - and Dende followed him nervously.

Vegita gently laid Bulma on the ground and looked at Dende expectantly. "Well?" he said impatiently.

"Just stand back," Dende ordered, glaring at him with a look that did little to hide either his dislike or his distrust of the Saiyan. "I can do the rest." He closed his eyes, lowered his hands down onto Bulma's body, and began to concentrate. Soon he began to glow with a yellow aura, which quickly extended out away from his hands and transferred itself onto and around Bulma's body. They both glowed like this for about thirty seconds, and Vegita watched in amazement as Bulma's wound closed itself up and her color began to return. Even her chi was returning to its normal level. Finally, Dende allowed his aura to dissipate, and as he sat back and let out a sigh of exertion, Bulma opened her eyes.

She sat up and looked around. "I'm... I'm alive?" she gasped in amazement, feeling the place where Freeza had run her through. Finding no wound there, she cried out in surprise. It was then that she saw the very relieved Dende sitting next to her.

"Dende!" she cried, leaping at him and giving him a great big bear hug. "Oh God, Dende, I should have known it was you! I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for what you did for me!"

"I'm just glad you're all right," he laughed shakily, his eyes filling up with tears. "I was so afraid that we had lost you, Bulma!"

Bulma frowned. "Me too," she said grimly. "I'm sorry for making you worry, and also for making you take such a risk to heal me. All the same, this may only be a temporary fix, Dende. I'll have to go fight that creature again soon enough, and he may very well kill me for good this time."

"He will if you try to fight him alone like that again," Vegita grumbled curtly behind her, causing her to jump. "He's much more powerful than you are; you knew that damn well. If you don't develop a bit of sense, there soon won't be enough left of you for the brat here to heal."

Bulma felt her temper flare as she suddenly found his presence utterly infuriating. "I don't want to hear a _word_ out of you, Vegita!" she snapped at him, leaping to her feet and balling her hands into fists. "This whole fiasco is all your fault! If you hadn't decided to show the world what an ass you are by begging Freeza to double his power, you might have actually killed him by now and saved the universe – and us – a lot of trouble. But now, thanks to you and your humongous ego, we don't have a snowball's chance in hell of beating that monster! Even if both Goku and Piccolo were already here, and we all fought Freeza at once, we'd still get our asses kicked to pieces!" She was fuming now, and Dende had backed away from her a little bit. He didn't want to get caught in the middle of this; he'd never seen Bulma so furious before, and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

Vegita gaped at her in shock for a second or two, unable to believe that she'd actually had the audacity to say such a thing right to his face. He glared at her angrily, suddenly very sorry that he'd bothered to help the little Namek kid revive her. He really had no idea why he'd done it in the first place, but he knew now that, given the chance, he wouldn't do it again. "Don't you tell _me_ how I should fight my battles!" he snapped back at her. "I am the greatest warrior who ever lived! I certainly don't need to be told that how I fight is wrong, especially if it's coming from someone as weak and pathetic as _you_!"

Bulma wanted more than anything in the world to simply punch him in the nose right then and there, but she knew that there was absolutely no point. Fighting with Vegita wasn't going to win the more pressing fight with Freeza, and besides, it certainly wasn't going to make an idiotic, self-absorbed Saiyan ass like him change his ways. She simply rolled her eyes at him and sighed in disgust. "I don't have time for this," she shot at him in a testy growl. "I've got to go join Kuririn and Gohan. Dende, you stay here and out of sight, okay? Don't let Freeza see you!" With that she hopped up on top of the hill to see what was going on between Freeza and the boys.

Bulma didn't like what she saw. Kuririn had already been knocked into the ground and was just beginning to come to. Freeza had Gohan pinned on the ground, and he was pushing down on his head with his foot. Gohan looked like he was nearly past the point of no return. Freeza must have given him quite a beating. Bulma studied this scene with some uncertainty for a couple of seconds before she decided at last on a plan of action. She shot back down to Dende and Vegita.

"Dende!" she said as she landed. "Freeza's already hurt them pretty badly out there. I'm going to rush out there and draw him away from them. What I want you to do is to run out there after I've gotten Freeza to chase me away, and then heal Kuririn and Gohan. Can you do that?"

"I don't know how much time it'll take," he said nervously. "I won't know that for sure until I find out just how badly they've been injured."

"Don't worry about that," she said, shaking her head. "Just do the best you can. I'll keep Freeza away no matter what it takes, so you just leave him to me and concentrate on those two out there. Just make sure you heal Gohan first, okay? He's a lot worse off than Kuririn is, and besides, he's also the one with the Saiyan blood. If anyone could benefit more from being healed by you, it's him!" With that, she shot him a reassuring wave before leaping over the rock and shooting down toward Freeza below.

Vegita gasped. Of course! Kakkorot's brat was half-Saiyan! It would stand to reason that he would get a significant increase in power simply from being healed, just as he himself would! A sly grin slowly spread across Vegita's face. He had just figured out a plan to make himself more powerful than Freeza!

Bulma shot like a bullet toward the unsuspecting Freeza. He never heard her coming. With a loud smack, she gave him a sharp kick to the back of his head, sending him sprawling forward and causing him to land a full ten feet away from the now immobile Gohan. Bulma shot over past him, just far enough to give her a good lead when she started.

"Hey, ugly!" she yelled at Freeza, causing him to jump up to his feet and look up at her. "Are you planning to take a nap down there or something? I've got a bit of a score to settle with you, and I don't really feel like waiting for you to finish!"

"What?!" Freeza exclaimed in shock. "Why aren't you dead?"

"You really want to find out?" Bulma asked, pulling her eyelid down and sticking her tongue out at him. "Well, then you'll have to catch me first!" She then shot off in an effort to get a good head start on him. She looked behind her a few seconds later to make sure he was following her, and she noticed with a great deal of surprise that he was already less than fifty yards behind her. Boy, his reflexes were quick!

Determined to take him much farther than this speed would allow, she teleported a good two hundred yards ahead of him and then resumed her flight. She looked back at him again and grinned. "You're going to have to do better than that!" she called back at him playfully. "I'm gonna get away!"

Freeza answered her with several fast moving chi blasts which she only narrowly avoided – with more than a fair degree of difficulty. "Yow!" she said to herself as the last one whizzed by her ear. "I'd better be more careful! Okay, Freeza, so you wanna play hardball? Well, I'm gonna make you jump through a few hoops if you want to catch up with me!"

"Here's a present for you!" she called back, sending a fairly strong blast at him. He simply swatted it away with one hand and kept coming, all the while gaining ground on her. Bulma frowned back at him with a hurt look on her face.

"You didn't want my gift?" she asked piteously.

Apparently Freeza wasn't in the mood for jokes anymore. "I don't know how you managed to come back from the dead," he yelled angrily. "But I sincerely hope that you didn't make plans to stay!"

Bulma shot a silly grin at him and sped up a little more. She was feeling pretty gutsy, but she didn't feel like letting him get too close. Suddenly she felt his chi shoot up dramatically, and she looked back to see him gaining ground on her much too rapidly for comfort. He shot her a wicked grin, and she grit her teeth. She had to try something else. She had known he wouldn't let her outfly him for long anyway. She was just stalling him as much as she could, and she decided that this tactic had outlived its effectiveness. She glanced up at the two suns that were most prominent in the sky and did a quick triangulation in her mind.

She spun around and spread her fingers out on either side of her face. "Taiyoken!" she yelled as he raced up to her, totally unaware of what she was up to. He soon became aware, though, as the ferociously bright flash of light struck his face. He bellowed in surprise as the flash blinded him, and his hands flew - all too late - to his eyes to shield them from the glare.

Bulma grinned. Tenshinhan always could create some of the best techniques! She flew down toward the ground below, and she noticed that there was a large, cracked mountain down there. A perfect hiding place! She shot down into one of the center cracks and waited, trying to think of what she could do to him next.

She noticed with no small degree of excitement that Gohan's chi had risen far above normal by now. Good. That meant that Dende must be done healing him. Kuririn felt really weak, though. Dende still had to get to him. She'd have to stall Freeza a little while longer yet.

It only took Freeza thirty or forty seconds to get over Bulma's taiyoken, and he was plenty mad when he did. He certainly didn't like being made to look the fool, which is exactly what she had done to him with that last stunt. Growling angrily, he scanned the area carefully with his eyes, trying to figure out just where the little bitch had gone. He was going to find her, and then he was going to kill her. And this time he was going to make damn sure she was good and dead! He spotted the cracks in the mountain below, and he grinned evilly.

Bulma saw Freeza as he descended toward her hiding place, but she knew he couldn't see her. She wondered what he was going to do. She got her answer when he threw a small glob of chi into one of the adjacent cracks. It exploded and created a lot of smoke and dusty debris, all of which spread quickly into all the little cracks and crevices in the rock. Oh ho! So he thought he was going to smoke her out, did he? Well, Bulma knew exactly how to handle this. She simply stopped time and flew out of her hiding place to look for a new one. This would slow him down a bit! She saw a fairly large tree not too far away, and she flew over to inspect it. Its branches were more than strong enough to support her weight, and the foliage was sufficiently thick to conceal her from view. She positioned herself on one of the branches so that she was fairly well hidden, let time pick up where it had left off, and peered through the leaves at Freeza, high above the nearby mountain. He waited patiently up there for a minute or two, keeping a watchful eye on all the escape routes. She snickered a little at him. This was starting to turn into a fun game!

Finally, the smoke had all but cleared up, and Freeza was losing his patience. "If you don't come out of there this instant," he yelled, "then I'll destroy your little hiding place with you in it!" He formed a chi ball and held it high.

It was all Bulma could do to keep from laughing. What a dolt! She watched eagerly to see how long he would wait. She knew he'd much prefer to kill her face to face, but she didn't think he'd wait too long for her to come out of there. She had been right.

"Have it your way!" he yelled, hurling the chi ball into the center of the mountain. After an eerie pause, it suddenly erupted into a massive explosion, sending chunks of rock and dirt rushing out in all directions. It wasn't the debris that caused what happened next, however; it was the shock wave. As it hit the tree Bulma was hiding in, it uprooted it completely and it knocked it into the ground, causing it to roll over and over, and causing Bulma to fly up and out of it. She glanced up at Freeza, just in time to see him turn and catch sight of her. She grinned sheepishly at him and shot him a half-hearted wave. She could sense by now that Kuririn was completely healed, so she decided that it was time to go back anyway.

She flew around him in a wide arc, and then she took off for the battlefield at top speed. Freeza shot after her at a much faster rate, and when Bulma looked behind her, he was already less than ten yards away! She cried out in surprise and teleported ahead a few hundred yards. She kept going, and it wasn't long before Freeza had caught up to her again. When he did, she teleported ahead again.

Bulma looked back at him nervously. They had a good bit of ground to cover yet, and a lot could happen between there and here. Maybe it would be better not to tempt fate a second time.

"You're too slow!" she called back at him. "I'll just meet you up ahead, okay? Don't keep me waiting too long!"

"Don't you dare!" Freeza yelled, shooting a chi blast at her. Unluckily for him, she had left long before giving him a chance to retort, and by now she had already teleported back to the battlefield. Freeza screamed in frustration and he flew toward the battlefield at a breakneck pace. He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd been tricked. Someone was going to pay dearly for this!

Bulma grinned as she got back to the battlefield and halted her teleport. Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende were in a small group on the right, while Vegita watched them with stern interest on the far left. She flew down to Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende to tell them the news.

"All right, guys," she said, causing them to jump and spin around to look at her. "It's time to get ready now. I left Freeza only about ten miles back there, and he'll be back very soon. That means it's time for you to hide again, Dende."

"Bulma!" Dende cried. "Thank goodness you made it back all right! We were so worried about you!"

"Aw, I was all right," she said, laughing nervously. "I made sure to stay well ahead of him, but I'm afraid that I've also made him hopping mad, so you guys had better do what I said and prepare yourselves! He'll be here at any second now!"

As if that was his cue, Freeza appeared in the distance, just barely too far to see him clearly. He was coming very fast, and he would certainly see them within a couple of moments.

"No time!" she cried. "Brace yourself, Dende!" She teleported him to the other side of the hill, just as Freeza caught sight of them. He shot down to the ground and landed in front of them, and Bulma actually cringed at the look of malignant fury that he burned into her retinas.

"I'm through playing games with you, girl," he said, simmering in his anger. "I'm quite sick of you, as a matter of fact. If I were you, I wouldn't anticipate being in existence too far in the future."

Bulma just glared at him. Freeza glared back. It was a mutual loathing that they reserved for one another, and one that would only be dissolved in the event of the destruction of either or both. It was an almost tangible quality, and one could easily observe it whenever the two were in close proximity to each other. Bulma had never come so close to death before; Freeza had almost succeeded in killing her. For that reason, she would never have any gentle feelings for him. Freeza, on the other hand, had never had someone escape death from him so narrowly, and he took it quite personally indeed. He felt that she had slighted him somehow, and that had been more than unacceptable. Freeza now had a personal vendetta against Bulma, and she knew it.

Bulma grinned. She wondered if anyone else had ever given Freeza this much trouble. She hoped that Goku would be even more of a pain than she had been!

"I'm only going to ask you this once," Freeza said, his eyes narrowing at Bulma. "How did you recover from your injury?"

"Heh," Bulma said with a smirk, straightening up and crossing her arms. "I'm not the only one anymore."

"What?!" Freeza cried, and he suddenly noticed that she was right. That little bald guy and the kid had recovered too! What the hell was going on?!

"How?! Why?!" Freeza demanded, growing flustered.

Bulma laughed. "Well, I don't really know," she said, grinning at him. "Perhaps we just got lucky, hm?"

"Are you trying to make a fool of me?" Freeza said, taking a step forward.

"You don't need me for that!" Bulma jeered, glaring at him tauntingly. "You're doing just fine by yourself!"

Freeza looked like he was about to explode. It seemed as if Bulma knew just which buttons to push to make him lose his temper. Miraculously, he didn't, though. He took a deep breath, and then he smiled.

"You know, I'm actually quite pleased that you survived," Freeza said, his eyes flashing brilliantly at her. "You're definitely one person whom I wouldn't mind killing twice!"

It finally occurred to Bulma that he was right. He probably was going to kill her this time. She gritted her teeth and glared at him angrily. She didn't have anything to say to that.

He laughed, realizing that for once, he had her cornered. "I wonder how I should kill you this time?" he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Last time was really much too short for my taste. I think that however I kill you this time, I'll draw the pain out much longer!"

Bulma just glared at him. For once, she didn't have any good ideas to fall back on. What were they going to do now?

"But," he said, walking forward until he was right in front of her, less than two feet away. "You, I'll save for last." Before she even had time to flinch, he had grabbed her by her neck with one hand and shot up into the air with her.

Bulma gagged a little and clawed at his hand in protest, trying desperately to get him to let go of her. He chortled in amusement as she writhed and kicked at him, and he held her face up in front of his.

"Comfortable?" he asked her with a sinister grin. Bulma just growled at him savagely, still kicking and clawing for all she was worth. "Good," he said. "Now just be patient, my dear. As soon as I deal with your little friends I'll come over and pay you a nice, friendly visit!" With that, he yanked her backward, and as she screamed in protest, he hurled her at blinding speed toward the rocky hill by the lake.

Bulma had known before he'd let her go that she wasn't going to be able to stop herself in time to avoid hitting that hill. Still, she was determined not to hit that big chunk of rock with her head unprotected. She covered the top of her head with her arms and gritted her teeth, waiting for the bone-shattering impact to come.

Bulma definitely felt a jarring stop when she did come to a halt, but remarkably, she wasn't even touching the rock face of the hill afterwards. Rather, she was looking back at it and was just more than a foot away from her. She was lying suspended on her back, and she was suddenly aware that she was being held up by someone. She lifted her head to find herself reclining in Piccolo's able arms.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked, cracking a condescending, yet altogether unheard-of smile at her.

"Piccolo!" she shrieked, fighting mightily against the bizarre, sudden urge to hug him. "I can't believe you're here! You really don't know how much we could use your help right now!"

Piccolo frowned. "I have a pretty good idea," he muttered as he let her go. "I could sense everything that went on after you wished me to Namek. It seems you three have been having some difficulties."

Bulma looked back at Freeza, who was gaping at them in angry astonishment. "I'd say that's a bit of an understatement," she said uneasily. "Kaio-sama had a good reason for being angry with you for wanting to challenge Freeza. It's sheer suicide, even for someone like you, Piccolo."

"We'll see," Piccolo replied, smirking boldly at Freeza. He made a nonchalant, leisurely flight toward his new opponent, while Bulma followed him apprehensively. Piccolo seemed sure of himself, but not even he could possibly be a match for Freeza! She sighed as she flew down to the ground to join Kuririn and Gohan, while Piccolo flew up into the air to meet Freeza. She hoped he wasn't making a grave mistake.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Making a Super Saiyan**

"Bulma!" Kuririn cried excitedly, leaping at her and hugging her forcefully. "I can't believe you're okay! Piccolo's timing was perfect!"

Bulma frowned and waited for him to let go. She wasn't in the mood to celebrate. "I'm glad he was there to help me," she said, glancing up at a very confident-looking Piccolo, who was already facing off against Freeza. "But I wish he wasn't here. He doesn't have a prayer against Freeza, but he seems to think otherwise. I wish he would listen to reason; it's more than just his own skin at stake here. If he gets killed today, then our chance at bringing everyone back to life is completely shot." Kuririn stepped back away from her and looked up at Piccolo too.

"I know what you mean," he said quietly. "Piccolo has always done whatever he feels like doing, kind of like Vegita. I hope he knows what he's getting himself into up there."

Gohan smiled calmly at them. "There's no need to worry, guys," he said, turning to watch his sensei with utter adoration. "Piccolo-san will be all right. He knows how important it is for him to stay alive, and he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't really believe that he could win. I know him well enough to say for sure that he wouldn't believe such a thing if it wasn't true. He's stronger, guys - much stronger. I can feel it. Piccolo-san is hiding something big, and I have a feeling that Freeza isn't going to like it at all."

Bulma could tell by the tone of his voice that Gohan had complete confidence in his Namek sensei. That - coupled with his simple, earnest words - caused Bulma to second-guess her previous assumptions about Piccolo's capability. Was it at all possible that he had really become that much stronger? Well, at this point, there was nothing that could be done if he wasn't. All they could do was watch, so she looked up and did just that, as the others did the same.

Piccolo sneered and said something to Freeza. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan were too far away to hear the conversation, but they could tell from the expression on Freeza's face that he definitely was not pleased. The two assumed fighting stances, and in a split second they disappeared from view altogether. Bulma could sense the impact each time they collided after that, but they moved too quickly for her to keep up with much else. Gohan and Kuririn were having the same problem she was.

"Geez!" Kuririn said. "How did Piccolo get so fast all of the sudden? Even Goku wasn't this good after Kaio-sama's training, and he had a whole year!"

"I don't know what it means," Gohan said quietly, frowning in his concentration, "but Piccolo is... different somehow. He feels like himself, I suppose, but there is something else. I don't really know how to describe it exactly, but it's almost as if he's having help of some kind up there. It almost feels like there are two people fighting Freeza at once!"

"Now that you mention it," Bulma said, concentrating fiercely on Piccolo's chi signature, "he does feel a bit strange. Do you sense that too, Kuririn?"

"They're moving a bit too fast for me to keep up with either of them," Kuririn said in frustration. "I'll just take your word for it."

Bulma looked down at Gohan. He was concentrating very hard on Piccolo's movements, but a slight grin played at his lips. Gohan had a very strong connection to Piccolo; that much she knew for certain. He was brimming with confidence, just like Piccolo had been. It was as if the two shared the same heart just now. Bulma wondered how badly he would take it if Piccolo got killed again. She shook her head to ward off the unpleasant thought. She didn't want to think of such things. Besides, it was almost as if Gohan's confidence was contagious; she found herself doubting the likelihood that Freeza would be able to kill Piccolo, at least with ease. Piccolo was really giving him a run for his money up there, and guessing from the frustrated shouts that accompanied his attacks, Freeza wasn't used to being challenged like this. Bulma cracked a grin, and she hoped with all her might that Piccolo would be the one to finish Freeza. It just seemed fitting that a Namek warrior be the one to exact vengeance on Freeza for what he'd already done, since so far, the Saiyans had dropped the ball on it.

Finally, Freeza and Piccolo stopped zipping around and came to a stop less than twenty feet away from each other. They both were sweating a little, but neither one was winded. They really hadn't made any substantial progress since they had begun, but Bulma decided that Piccolo's not being even the slightest bit injured was progress enough for her. She knew that he wasn't using his full power either, which made her all the more excited. As long as Freeza didn't have any more drastic items in his bag of tricks, Piccolo stood a fair chance of winning.

Bulma sighed. Goku would have given his right arm to see this, but she didn't think it was a good idea to bring him out here. Even with Piccolo here, she didn't trust Freeza not to try something else. This guy couldn't have built up an intergalactic empire on his power alone - unless he was something really amazing, that is. She hoped for all she was worth that this was all that Freeza was, but she had to listen to her reason, which demanded that she be cautious. Even now, Freeza was grinning like he knew something that they didn't. She didn't like that look.

While she was considering these things, Vegita flew over to join them. Kuririn and Gohan stepped back nervously, and Bulma would have too, if she had noticed him, that is. Her mind was too preoccupied with other things, and he literally snuck up on her. He was standing right next to her when she caught his movements in the corner of her eye. Then she realized whom it was that she had noticed, and it startled her.

"Gah!" she yelped, jumping back away from him. "Where did you come from?!"

"Never mind!" Vegita snapped impatiently. "What the hell is going on here? Where did that Namek come from, and why is he so powerful?"

"Get away from me!" Bulma said crossly. "I don't have to tell you anything, you demanding jerk!"

Vegita half-growled/half-groaned at her. "Quit being difficult!" he snapped. "I just asked you a simple question, you stupid female!"

"Nyaaah!" Bulma said, sticking her tongue out at him childishly. "If you had even half my brains, you'd be able to figure it out for yourself anyway! You and Nappa were the ones who killed him to begin with!"

"What are you talking about, fool? Are you calling _me_ stupid now?" Vegita hissed furiously at her. Bulma turned around and pretended to ignore him.

Kuririn thought he'd better intervene before they started their own little battle down here to complement the one above. "That's Piccolo," he said quickly, pointing up at him. "We wished him back to life, and then we wished him here to Namek, after he asked us to. We don't exactly know how he got so powerful, but we do know that he did some training in the afterlife before we wished him back."

"What?!" Vegita snapped. "You'd waste _two_ wishes on that weakling before making me immortal?!"

"That 'weakling' is about eight times your senior in raw power right now," Bulma said coldly. "I don't consider it a waste at all. At the very least, I have less reason to fear Piccolo's turning on us and killing us after he's finished with Freeza – whereas you are another story altogether, oh mighty prince. You've given us no real reason to trust you, and I for one am relieved that we didn't have to make you immortal. The fact that you're not as strong as Piccolo suits me just fine."

Vegita shot her a nasty look, but suddenly his face brightened. "Don't get too used to it," he said with a sneer. "It's going to change in my favor very soon, and when it does, you'll regret not getting on my good side while you had the chance."

Bulma didn't like his words or his tone, but there wasn't much she could say or do to dissuade him from whatever deviltry his little pea-brain had begun to cling to, and besides, she was too distracted by the fight between Freeza and Piccolo to focus on Vegita for very long. Although she wasn't at all comfortable with having the abrasive Saiyan around, she was anxious to see that Piccolo won this crucial battle. Settling things with Vegita and her inner demons would have to wait, despite the fact that she still shuffled away from him without even realizing it.

Piccolo and Freeza had finally stopped throwing taunts and insults at one another. Then something extraordinary happened. Freeza suddenly hunched over and began to yell, and Bulma felt his chi grow another fifty thousand degrees or so. She could have sworn she saw him increase in size a little too. She glanced nervously at Piccolo. What would he do now?

Piccolo smirked insolently at Freeza. Then he slowly removed his cape and turban, which he let drop to the ground below him. The immensely heavy garments landed with a loud thud, and they created a couple of nice indentations in the soil. Piccolo stretched a little, cricked his neck, and he then assumed a fighting stance. By now, his chi had risen quite admirably as well, but it was not quite as much as Freeza's had become. Still, such minor differences could be made insignificant with cunning and intelligence, and Bulma was well aware that Piccolo had been blessed with more than his share of both.

Bulma shot a curious glance at Vegita. He was glaring at Piccolo with a look not unlike the one he had shown while Goku had fought Jees and Baata. Vegita certainly didn't enjoy meeting opponents who were noticeably stronger than he was! She might have smiled a little, but Freeza and Piccolo had begun to fight again, and her thoughts were immediately diverted.

Freeza started them off by going on the offensive. He charged at Piccolo with tremendous speed, and when the two collided it was as if the very heavens were shaking. They began to exchange blows, and it was immediately apparent that they were more evenly matched than anyone had predicted, except for Piccolo, of course. He had known it all along. Freeza fought him with an intense scowl on his face that deepened with each unsuccessful bout. He was getting pretty tired of being humiliated by this Namek. It wasn't as if Piccolo was beating him; neither one seemed to be winning. It was just the fact that this pathetic Namek fool was actually able to keep up with him that really irked Freeza. Finally, Freeza managed to land a sharp blow to Piccolo's stomach, and he sent him flying down into the side of the hill. Not wasting any time, he then shot an enormous blast after him, which began disintegrating the hill as it exploded on top of him. Bulma looked on in concern as Freeza's blast tore away at Dende's hiding place. If this continued for much longer, she'd have to go move the kid before he got hurt.

Finally, Freeza allowed his steady wave of chi to subside, and when the dust and smoke had cleared, all that remained of that side of the hill was a short pile of rubble that fanned out on either side of what was left of the hill. There was no visible sign of Piccolo.

"Well," Freeza said, suddenly very pleased with himself. "I must have overestimated him! He wasn't that much at all!"

Bulma grinned. "Wanna bet?" she called up at him. She could tell that Freeza had spoken too soon. Just then Freeza realized it too, as the top of the pile of rubble began to glow. Suddenly it disintegrated as a bright burst of energy and light shot outward, temporarily blinding everyone. Bulma struggled to discern the nebulous figure inside the bright orb of chi at the center of the explosion, despite the fact that she already knew who it was.

Freeza was not pleased. This pesky little insect needed to be swatted, and he didn't particularly enjoy the fact that it was taking him so much time and effort to do it. These people were beginning to lose sight of just how much trouble they were in, and he decided that it was high time to remind them.

"I do believe it's time for my second transformation," he announced suddenly, fairly surprising everyone. "I wouldn't want you to feel unchallenged by me," he added with a glare of contempt at Piccolo. He shot down to the ground, a little way off into the distance, and Bulma shook her head in horrified disbelief as he began his second metamorphosis.

"No!" she cried, beginning to shake. "This can't be! There's another one?!"

No one answered her. They were all too shocked and petrified to utter a sound. Even Vegita had been rendered speechless. Piccolo frowned grimly and glanced down at them very briefly. He definitely looked concerned by this new turn of events, and Bulma could tell by the way that he had glanced at them that he was worried about their safety too. Why did things always have such a tendency to take a turn for the worse around here?

Gohan looked just as worried as Piccolo. Suddenly he shot up into the air to go join him, and Piccolo watched him approach with a look of reluctant irritation. Bulma knew he must have missed Gohan just a little bit while he'd been away. No one would ever have been able to convince her otherwise.

"Piccolo-san!" Gohan cried, rushing into Piccolo's arms and seizing him in a ferocious hug, completely taking the brusque Namek off guard. He looked down at him in surprise, his face the very image of befuddlement.

"Uh-oh," Bulma thought with a twitching grimace as she anticipated an unseemly explosion from Piccolo. "Here it comes."

Piccolo didn't blow up at Gohan, though. Instead, he just sighed and patted Gohan gently on the head.

"What is it, kid?" he asked gruffly. "Are you really so eager to annoy me?" Gohan looked up at him hopefully.

"Let me help you, Piccolo-san!" he cried, jumping back and balling his hands into fists. "I'm a lot stronger now, and I can help you beat him!"

Piccolo sighed again, but he shook his head resolutely. "No, Gohan," he said firmly. "I don't want you to do that. You'll only get in my way, and besides, I want to beat him myself. I don't want you interfering in my fight. Do you understand?"

Gohan looked at him with a hurt expression, but it lasted for only a few seconds - just long enough for him to translate Piccolo's words into what they really meant. "Are you sure?" he urged him. "I really am stronger, Piccolo-san!"

Piccolo allowed a trace of a grin to flash briefly on his face. "I know," he said. "I could tell the moment I arrived on Namek."

Gohan beamed with pride. It had meant a lot for him to hear Piccolo say that.

"I have a more important mission for you," he continued, his face all business. "My fight with Freeza is going to be very violent and very dangerous for the rest of you if you remain where you are. I need you to stay with them and help ensure that no one is affected by this battle but me and him. Your odds of survival are best if you stay together in a group, and those two full-blooded humans aren't as capable as you are, kid. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"All right," Gohan sighed. "I'll protect Bulma and Kuririn. I won't let you down, Piccolo-san."

"I know that," Piccolo said, tousling his hair in a rare moment of affection. "I expect nothing less from my subordinates, however hopeless they may seem to be."

Gohan grinned proudly, and then he flew back down to join his companions. Bulma smiled at him. It really was remarkable how kindly Piccolo acted toward the boy. She had never known him to be anything but the Ma Junior that they had known back before all this Saiyan business, but somehow his interactions with Goku - and especially Gohan - had changed his personality dramatically. One thing was certain in Bulma's mind, though. She was overjoyed that he was now officially on their side. They needed his help, now more than ever. As she witnessed the completion of Freeza's transformation, Bulma had the sickening feeling that they needed a lot more than that. Maybe they ought to go get Goku after all...

"Bulma, can you feel this?" Kuririn asked, trembling violently. "Can you feel the sheer power of that ... that _thing_?"

"You have no idea how much I'd give to be able to say no," Bulma gulped, staring in horror at Freeza's new form. He had not only drastically increased his chi power, but he had truly undergone a metamorphosis. His old shape had been exchanged for an entirely different one. He was still anthropomorphic - or somewhat, at least - but the way this new form seemed to slouch over almost didn't allow him to qualify as a biped. His head was perhaps the most notably altered however, due to its huge size in comparison to the rest of his body, as well as its change in shape. It was much more elongated, and it now had two sets of horns, which were no longer black and shiny. Instead, they were a rough white, and were very much just an outcropping of his armor-like skin.

Bulma figured that any good head-smashing would be out of the question now. Of course, it stood to reason that a creature this powerful need not ever worry about such a thing. With such a drastic increase in power at his disposal, it was a given that Freeza's speed must now be fantastic. Bulma let out an internal groan. There was no way Piccolo was going to be able to handle Freeza on his own, and judging from the grim expression on his face, he knew it, too.

"Guys," Bulma muttered as Freeza floated up towards Piccolo. "I don't know how much good it will do, but I think we'd better go heal Goku now and bring him here. It's obvious that Piccolo won't last long at all against Freeza now. I truthfully don't think we'll have a prayer against Freeza no matter what we do, but our most effective plan of action will be for all of us to attack him at once, and for that we'll need Goku. Even then, it's doubtful that we'll make it. I'm just hoping that Goku's strength increase will be enough. Right now I'd say it's our only chance."

Kuririn and Gohan nodded solemnly. "Do you want us to go too?" Kuririn asked.

"No," Bulma said, after a hesitant pause. "It's better if you stay here. Freeza will be less likely to suspect that something's up if only one of us disappears. I don't want him to go ballistic here. The smoother we can make this thing go, the better. Besides, you'll just be more for me to teleport back once he's healed."

"Good point," Kuririn agreed. "Are you going now?"

"Soon," she replied, eying Freeza cautiously. "As soon as his guard is down, I'll make my move, but right now he's too attentive. He's watching us too. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until he and Piccolo start fighting."

Suddenly Vegita snorted. "You'll be wasting your time," he said casually. "Waking that half-wit up won't do you any good. He'll still be a half-wit."

"I don't see how adding a newly-recovered Saiyan to our arsenal will do us any harm," Bulma said impatiently. "I know you don't care much for Goku, Vegita, but even you have to admit that he'll have become much stronger by now - probably a lot stronger than Piccolo. We'll need all the help we can get."

"There's a better way of handling this," Vegita said slyly. "If one of you three was to wound me to the point of death and then make that little Namek kid restore my health, my strength would increase many times over. At that level, I would be able to attain the Saiyan race's highest form possible - that of the Super Saiyan! When that happens, Freeza won't stand a chance!" His eyes gleamed with intense delight then, and Bulma was, to say the least, rather disturbed by the whole thing.

"A... Super Saiyan?" Gohan asked skeptically. "What is that, and why would increasing your power only once make you stronger than Freeza?"

"Heh," Vegita snorted, straightening up. "Becoming a Super Saiyan is like going through one of Freeza's transformations, only it's much more powerful than that. There was another reason why Freeza destroyed Planet Vegita - it was his fear that one day another Super Saiyan would emerge. If that ever happened, his reign would come to an abrupt end, and he knew it. The last Super Saiyan appeared a thousand years ago, and it's time for another one. It is common belief that only those of the royal bloodline can become Super Saiyans, and since I'm the most powerful Saiyan to emerge in a thousand years, it is quite obviously my destiny to become one. I will be the one to succeed! Freeza will be groveling at my feet when I reach my goal!"

Bulma had mixed feelings about all of this. She didn't like the idea of making Vegita so powerful. He might be even worse than Freeza if they did that. Despite that, she was intrigued nonetheless. A Super Saiyan? The concept had promise, especially if it was something that was possible for all Saiyans. Vegita had forgotten one thing. He was _not_ the most powerful Saiyan; Goku was. Additionally, if Vegita only needed one power-up to become this Super Saiyan thing, then it made perfect sense that healing Goku could achieve the same thing. If that happened, then they wouldn't have to worry about Freeza or Vegita's being too powerful.

There was only one thing that bothered her, and that was that bit that Vegita had said about needing to be of the royal bloodline. Goku, as she understood it, had been born a low-class warrior in Saiyan society. If being of royal blood really was a requirement, then they were out of luck there. Vegita would have to be made stronger; otherwise they probably wouldn't be able to handle Freeza. She had qualms about her first plan anyway. It was too risky, but then again, so was this. God, she didn't know what they should do!

Kuririn abruptly interrupted her thoughts. "No," he said firmly. "I like Bulma's plan a heck of a lot better than that one. There's no way in hell that I'd consent to making you that strong! All you'd do is kill us and Goku once you'd finished Freeza off. Do you really think we're that stupid, Vegita?"

Vegita clenched his teeth, making a valiant effort to contain the threatening retort that was bursting to fly out at them. Suddenly though, his expression softened and became indifferent. The way he could swing his moods like that really bothered Bulma.

"Very well," he said, turning his back to them and crossing his arms. "Go ahead with your little plan if you like. Just keep in mind that the Namek - along with you two - will be dead by the time she gets back with Kakkorot. Freeza's ready to kill now, and there's no way her disappearance will escape his watchful eye. He's not stupid. He'll figure out that there's something going on, and he'll also expect her to come back. Knowing Freeza, he'll just kill you three off as quickly as he can so that she'll be able to see you dead when she returns. Of course, he'll probably toy with me a bit in the meantime. He hates me even more than he hates her, which is saying quite a bit, I might add," he said, flashing an evil grin back at Bulma. "I don't know how you always manage to be the biggest pain in the ass imaginable, woman, but you've got Freeza angrier at you than I've seen him in years!" He laughed softly and turned back around to watch Freeza again.

Bulma frowned and ignored his last statement. "I wouldn't put it past Freeza to do something like that," she muttered. "He'd do it just to affect me; that's certain. Freeza does hate my guts, and it'd give him a lot of joy to see me upset about his killing my friends."

"Well, we have to do something!" Gohan said in exasperation. "We're certain to die _without_ my dad anyway, aren't we? I say you go get him anyway, Bulma!"

"Well, yeah..." Kuririn said, his voice faltering a little. Bulma could see that the increased chance of his hasty death didn't really please him. Of course, he knew better than any of them what terrors awaited them in death. He'd been through it once before. Bulma sighed. She didn't really feel like leaving her friends to die either.

"Fine," she said finally, feeling rather defeated. "You win, Vegita. If we help you, will you hold Freeza off long enough for me to get Goku healed and bring him here?"

Kuririn drew in his breath sharply to protest, but he almost instantly decided against it. Being alive did hold a bit of value to him, and besides, he knew it was killing Bulma to have to ask Vegita for help again. She'd only be doing something that drastic if she thought they were out of other options, and since he couldn't think of anything better either, he figured he'd trust her judgment.

"Well?" she said impatiently, beginning to glare at Vegita. Why did all their plans end up in their relying on his help?

Vegita scowled at her. "If you do what I tell you," he said sternly, "then you won't need Kakkorot. That's a promise."

Bulma nodded gravely. "Need him or not, though," she continued, "I still intend to bring him here. That's one point I refuse to bend on." She stared at him with a strong finality in her expression; one that both Kuririn and Goku had learned long ago that you _never_ wanted to challenge.

Surprisingly though, Vegita didn't disagree. He simply shot her a smug grin and shrugged. "If that's what you want then I won't object," he said graciously. "Let him come and watch the show if that pleases you. You can tell him in advance that he'll be doing nothing but watching, though. I won't want his help, and I certainly won't need it!"

"I hope you're right," Bulma sighed, shaking her head at him, "for all our sakes."

"Guys," Gohan said nervously, tugging on her arm and pointing up. "Could you hurry this up? Piccolo-san's losing!"

They looked up and saw that he was right. Piccolo had definitely seen better days. Freeza had beaten him nearly senseless, and now he was playing a one-person game of badminton up there - with Piccolo as the birdie!

Bulma groaned. "Gohan!" she ordered. "Keep an eye on Piccolo and Freeza. I know it'll be hard for you, but you mustn't interfere with them unless Freeza's about to deal the final blow. Don't worry; we'll take care of the rest! C'mere, Kuririn!" she barked, grabbing his arm. She yanked him over to Vegita, and then she grabbed _his_ arm. With the two protesting men in tow, she teleported with them over the hill to where Dende was.

"All right," she said as she dropped their arms and let them stumble in the awkwardness of being teleported without warning. "I'm not going to do this. I can't mortally wound someone if it's not in self-defense. I'm sorry, Kuririn, but I just don't think I have the strength for this. I'm gonna need your help here."

"What? Me?!" Kuririn exclaimed, backing away from her and Vegita. "Is that what you brought me here for?"

"Kuririn, I really don't think I have the strength for this," she said gently. "I'm sorry."

"You two had better decide this quick," Vegita growled, pointing to the tip of the hill, which was all that was between them and Freeza's view. "The Namek doesn't have much time, and we're almost within Freeza's sight!"

"I can't!" Kuririn cried, backing away. "I... I just can't do it!"

Bulma had been afraid of this. She sighed. So it was up to her after all.

During all this commotion, Dende had backed himself up against the rock face, his entire body shaking violently. Bulma and Kuririn's (and especially Vegita's) sudden appearance had shocked and terrified him, but what had him so worked up now was the strange things they were saying. He didn't know what they were talking about, but both Kuririn and Bulma were hesitating, so he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like it. He also had a pretty good idea that it involved him somehow.

Bulma noticed the distraught look on his face, and she smiled gently at him. He deserved an explanation. "Fine, Kuririn," she said, trying not to sound too upset. "I'll do it then. Please go tell Dende what's going on, will you? He'll need to be ready in case I accidentally overdo it and Vegita fades out too quickly."

Although she hadn't really meant to, she had made Kuririn feel guilty by giving in like she had. He knew she'd never mortally wounded anyone before, and it would be that much harder for her because of it. He felt like the biggest louse in the world.

Bulma saw the indecision in his face, and she knew that although he definitely didn't want to have to do this, he would if she asked him to again. Fortunately for him, though, she wasn't quite _that_ inconsiderate. She just frowned and ordered him to get a move on and fill Dende in on the details. He did as she asked.

Bulma drew in a long, slow breath and studied Vegita. She didn't like this. Even if it _was_ Vegita, she didn't like it. It had to be done though, so she readied herself for the inevitable.

"Are you ready?" she asked Vegita, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Are you?" he replied, watching her without too much concern. He seemed pretty carefree about the whole thing, for some reason.

Bulma closed her eyes in concentration. She had to get into the right frame of mind for this. For that, she had to make herself hate him enough to kill him. Strangely enough, that wasn't as easy as it sounded. She focused her thoughts on all the things he'd done to her, and - even more importantly - to her friends. He'd been responsible for the deaths of Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Yamucha. Yamucha! Just thinking about the awful way he'd had to die made her furious.

That wasn't all Vegita had done. Oh no! On top of all that, he'd always seemed to be there whenever she had gotten herself in major trouble. Not only had he been there, but he had always been quick to point out her mistakes to her, and to rub them in her face. First there had been Dodoria. Then there had been that time he'd traded her for their dragonballs. Then there had been that whole disaster with Jees. Even recently, when she'd nearly been killed by Freeza, there he had been to criticize her right after being revived. He always took such pleasure in rubbing her mistakes and weaknesses in her face! Always! She hated him for it!

Bulma had managed to work herself into a nice little rage by now, which was precisely what she had wanted. She immediately channeled her anger as a manifestation of her power, and she used it to charge up her chi. She opened her eyes and focused on Vegita's middle.

"Ready!" she snarled, drawing her right fist back as she prepared to strike.

Vegita's lips curled into a sneer, and he threw his arms out away from his body. His muscles were completely relaxed. He was ready.

Bulma concentrated all the chi power she could at the end of her arm. She knew that this beam would have to be fairly dense and powerful to penetrate Vegita's armor and skin, so she was working fiercely to achieve sufficient concentration. Finally, she was sure that she had gathered enough chi power to level a small city, and she prepared to blast him.

Freeza and Piccolo had by now shifted their struggle until they were directly overhead, but only Kuririn and Dende had taken notice of this. They were both too scared to speak though, so Bulma and Vegita would have to remain oblivious.

Bulma had reached the apex of her power. Yelling ferociously with the effort, and she shot her deadly, narrow blast at Vegita's middle. It crunched almost effortlessly through his armor, and Bulma could see right away that she'd been successful. Vegita's eyes opened terribly wide, and his teeth and fists clenched as her blast pierced his skin and seared its way completely through his stomach. The remnants of her blast that hadn't been slowed sufficiently enough by Vegita's body cracked open the back of his armor and shot completely through the other side of him.

Vegita looked shakily down at the gaping hole in his middle. He smiled faintly, and he looked back up at her with an unthinkable look of approval. "Less pathetic than I expected," he rasped, a bit of blood beginning to trickle down the corner of his mouth. Then his eyes rolled back a little, and he fell to the ground.

Bulma sank to her knees and covered her mouth, suddenly overcome by an intense wave of nausea. She couldn't believe she had actually done that. She had actually blasted straight through Vegita. For a moment she didn't care why she had done it. She just wished she could take it back. It was an awful, sickening feeling to know that she had just dealt a death blow to anyone, even if it was someone as vile as Vegita.

"Dende," she croaked, still struggling with her own emotions. "Please heal him quickly! I wounded him far too badly for us to hesitate like this."

"Um, Bulma?" Kuririn said nervously, eying the two fighters still grappling in the air above them. "There's a slight hitch in the plan. Dende says he can't heal Vegita. He can't bring himself to heal the man who was responsible for the deaths of so many of his people."

"What?!" Bulma gasped, looking up sharply. "No! But I've already injured him! He won't survive this, Dende!"

"I'm sorry," Dende said, shaking his head and looking down at the ground. "I can't in good conscience do such a thing."

"But... but he'll die!" Bulma wailed, her voice becoming shrill and frantic. "Dende, please! You know I wouldn't ask you for something like this if it wasn't absolutely necessary! We need Vegita's boost in strength to save Piccolo!" She got to her feet then, and just as she did so, Piccolo's nearly-lifeless body fell next to her with a thump. She yelped in surprise and jumped back, and her head shot up in alarm as she realized what this meant. Freeza was up there, and he was looking down at them with a great deal of surprise.

Suddenly a distressed yell came from the other side of the hill. "Piccolo-san!" Gohan hollered, sailing over to their side and darting to his friend's side. "No! Piccolo-san, are you all right?"

Momentarily forgetting Vegita, Bulma glared up at Freeza. He was smirking as he dropped down before them.

"What have we here?" he asked with a sneer. "Did I miss yet another get-together? Oh dear, and here I am improperly attired too! I wouldn't want to be unseemly. I'll just slip into something more becoming!"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Bulma asked crossly. "I'm getting tired of your nonsense, Freeza!"

Freeza flashed her a grin. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this. "I was simply apologizing for the unpleasantness of this form," he said politely. "It is rather unbecoming, don't you agree? Fortunately though, I can remedy this situation! As you shall see in a few moments, I have yet another transformation to undergo before I am at full power. I can assure you, it's much nicer to look at than this one is. Since you are obviously a woman of taste, I shall assume that you would prefer to see my other form."

The sudden pallor of Bulma's face seemed to have the desired effect, because his grin widened. Bulma stepped back a bit and shook her head in disbelief. "You're joking!" she exclaimed, horrified beyond belief. "It can't be true!"

"So you _would_ enjoy that, wouldn't you?" he cackled at her. He watched her gleefully as she began to tremble from a combination of fear and anger. Having received no verbal response from her, he continued. "Well, far be it from me to disappoint a lady!" he chuckled, bowing gracefully. "Look upon me and tremble, dear friends. You shall be the first beings alive to witness my transformation into my ultimate form!"

"No!" Bulma said in a barely audible voice. She balled her hands into fists and snarled at Freeza. "No!" she repeated, much more loudly and shrilly this time. "You can't! I won't let you!" Screaming in desperation and fury, she flew at him with all her might, fists raised and chi flaring. When she reached him, she swung forcefully at his head, but found herself swinging through empty air. He rematerialized a good hundred yards away in a flat, rocky place that was well within view. He laughed tauntingly at her, calling out to tell her to have patience; he'd play a fun game with her after attaining his new form! Bulma howled in her rage, and she tried to lunge at him, but Kuririn and Gohan grabbed her arms and held her back.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling fiercely against them. "Don't you see that we won't have a snowball's chance in hell if we let him transform again? We've got to stop him before it's too late!"

"What are we gonna do, huh?" Kuririn asked angrily, helping Gohan drag her back toward the others. "You think we stand a chance against him now? Do you honestly think that there's anything we can do to stop him from doing whatever the hell he wants? Well, I don't! Now, dammit, Bulma, calm down! We have to take care of Piccolo first! He's going to die if we don't, and you're going to die if we let you go fight Freeza without any help!"

Although she didn't want to relent, she could see the truth in Kuririn's words, so she simply stood still and watched Freeza helplessly while Dende began to heal Piccolo. All at once she remembered Vegita.

"Oh God!" she exclaimed. "Vegita! How could I have forgotten?" She ran over to his side and looked down at him. He hadn't moved since he fell. Bulma felt that same queasy feeling as she knelt by his side and with shaking hands, gently turned him over onto his back. He was still breathing, but he didn't look like he had much time left. "Oh, Vegita," she cried shakily, covering her face with her hands as she found herself unable to restrain the sobs that had worked their way to the surface. "Please don't die, Vegita! I'm so, so sorry about this! It's all my fault!" She'd never killed anyone before, and even though Vegita had done a lot of bad things, he hadn't attacked her first, so she had killed him unjustly. She didn't want to have to live with this. She didn't want him to die! She just had to try again. If only Dende would listen to her! Perhaps he might still be persuaded to undo the harm she'd caused.

Scrambling to her feet and hastily swiping an arm across her face to rub away the tears, she trotted over to the others, who were all crowded around Piccolo, with Dende already halfway through the healing process. Although Bulma was immensely relieved that Freeza hadn't totally killed Piccolo, she couldn't help thinking that it might have been better if he had. There was no way that he'd be able to last against another transformation of the cruel monster, and neither could the rest of them. They really needed Vegita, now more than ever, and unless she could get Dende to help him, they were done for.

Finally, Dende finished healing Piccolo, who sat up and smiled at him kindly. "Hello, Dende," he said, giving the small Namek quite a start. It hadn't been Piccolo's voice that had spoken. Rather, it had been Nail's voice that had come from Piccolo's lips!

"Nail!?" Dende gasped, stepping back. "Wha-?!"

"It's okay," Piccolo - or Nail's voice in Piccolo - said kindly. "I'm here, but not the same. Piccolo and I fused so that I wouldn't die from the wounds Freeza inflicted upon me, and more importantly, so that he could be made strong enough to fight Freeza. We are now, essentially, one and the same person."

"So that was why Piccolo was so strong all of the sudden?" Kuririn asked.

"Yes," Dende said. "When two Nameks join their bodies and minds as one, the result is a stronger, faster, smarter Namek warrior."

"Well, now that Piccolo... er... Nail... whatever," Bulma floundered. "Now that they're healed, I have to ask you again to please heal Vegita, Dende. It's unfair for us to let him die, since he never provoked my attack. He allowed me to hurt him because he knew we would revive him, and if we don't, we're all as good as dead anyway. We need him, Dende. I'm begging you; don't let him die!"

Dende looked like he was about to refuse again, but Piccolo put his hand on the young Namek's shoulder. "Heal him, Dende," he said, this time with his normal voice. "Try to put your feelings for him aside. We really do need his help."

Dende sighed and nodded dejectedly. It appeared that he respected Piccolo enough to do what he asked, much to everyone's relief. He walked over to the barely living Vegita and reluctantly began to heal him. Bulma breathed a sigh of relief and sank wearily to her knees, hanging her head as the tension and anguish began to flush out of her system. That had been far too close for her comfort. Thank goodness Piccolo had realized the necessity of keeping Vegita around as much as she had! She knew that if it hadn't been for that, he'd have agreed to let the Saiyan die too.

"Hey Piccolo," she said, not bothering to lift her head as he got to his feet and watched Freeza off in the distance. "I think we need to bring Goku here. I was hoping that once Dende was done healing Vegita, I could take him back to Freeza's compound so that he could finish healing Goku."

"I think that's a very good idea," was Piccolo's grim reply. "We really do need his help here, especially now that Freeza's transforming yet again."

"Will you do this for us, Dende?" Bulma pleaded, looking up at him hopefully. "I know that it must seem like we're just using you here, but it's really important that we get all the help we can with Freeza, and Goku will give us a lot of help."

Dende just smiled briefly at her. He was too deep in his concentration to answer her yet. Finally, he had finished healing Vegita, and as the revived Saiyan prince returned to his feet, Bulma could sense the drastic improvement in his strength and power. For a moment, she didn't worry at all about it, though. She was just so incredibly relieved that he was actually going to live. She pulled herself up onto her feet again and looked gratefully down at Dende.

"Thank you, Dende," she said warmly. "I'll never forget this."

Dende just remained where he was, his fists clenched tightly at his sides and his teeth bared angrily. He had healed Vegita, but that didn't mean that any of his feelings for the Saiyan had changed. Vegita looked down at him with a fierce scowl. Suddenly and without warning, he drew back his arm and swiftly backhanded Dende in the face. It was a fairly light blow – considering the fact that it had come from Vegita, that is - but it had been more than enough to knock the small boy roughly to the ground.

"Vegita!" Bulma shrieked, appalled by what he'd done. "Why the hell...?!"

"That was for trying to let me die," Vegita told Dende coolly, ignoring her. He walked away from Dende and looked at Freeza off in the distance. "I heard every word you insufferable fools said. I may have been dying, but I wasn't deaf!"

Bulma started. "You heard everything?" she asked, feeling her cheeks grow warm as she remembered the things she had said to him when she had thought he was as good as gone.

Vegita paused for a moment, but then he turned and stared at her with an odd expression. "Yes," he replied, giving her a focused, probing look that made her very uncomfortable indeed. "Everything."

Bulma turned away from him and folded her arms angrily, gritting her teeth. She couldn't believe the level of embarrassment she was experiencing at that moment. Boy, that figured. Why did he always have to be so damned observant whenever she went and made a fool of herself? What a jerk!

Vegita shot her an amused smirk, and then he turned back around to watch Freeza again. Bulma saw Dende push himself back up onto his feet, and she shot him look of apology. He just shrugged at her and began to dust himself off. He didn't seem too surprised by what Vegita had done to him, although he had the beginnings of a fine bruise on the side of his face where he'd been struck. Piccolo scowled fiercely at Vegita, but Vegita was ignoring them altogether.

"You know," he said suddenly, addressing them but not removing his gaze from their enemy, "Freeza saw every bit of that. Now he knows how we keep recovering from our wounds, and you can be sure that he isn't going to allow it to go on."

Bulma gasped in horror and stared at Freeza. Vegita was right. He was right in the middle of his transformation, but it was more than obvious that he had witnessed everything. He was staring straight at them with those cold eyes of his, and the look of hatred on his face was enough to take one's breath away. Bulma looked down at Dende, and he looked back as they shared the same thought. It wasn't too difficult to see which one of their group would get the privilege of being Freeza's first victim now. He gulped and looked up at Piccolo, who was staring at Freeza sternly.

"Bulma," Piccolo said abruptly, startling her. "I think you and Dende should go get Son now. It'll be better if you can get as much of a head start as possible."

Bulma nodded, fully understanding that Goku wasn't the only reason she was taking Dende to Freeza's compound. It was probably best for him to remain out of sight from now on, and now that their only hiding place for miles had been compromised, it was time to move him to a safer place.

"Come on, Dende," Bulma said, reaching for his hand, which he gave to her without hesitation. "It's time to make our exit. You four be careful, okay? I know there's really no need to say this, but try not to get killed until I get back. Dende won't be able to help you if you've crossed over into the afterlife."

Piccolo smirked. "You just bring Son here," he said. "We'll take care of Freeza."

"Don't bother," Vegita said casually. "There won't be anything left of Freeza to worry about when you get back."

Bulma glanced up at him and frowned slightly. If he went and got himself killed after all that ridiculousness she went through to get him healed, she wasn't sure if she'd be relieved or angry about it. Sighing and shaking her head, she looked back down at Dende.

"Are you ready?" she asked him with a light smile.

"Yes," he said, nodding quickly. "Let's hurry."

"You've got it," she said, nodding back. She stood up and, with a brief but reassuring nod at Kuririn and Gohan, she stopped time. She picked up Dende and, cradling him in her arms like a baby, took off with him for Freeza's compound. She knew that once she got there they'd have to work fast. There was just no telling what might happen in the short span of time it would take to revive Goku. Coming back would be no problem. She'd simply teleport him there as soon as he was healed. That would be best.

She finally arrived with Dende at the compound, and she didn't bother to allow time to flow normally again until they were in the recovery room. Then she halted her teleport and set Dende down gently on his feet.

"Goku's in this tank here," she said, rushing over to examine the controls on the outside. "If I can figure out how to open this thing, we'll be in business!"

"Okay, but please hurry!" Dende cried, fidgeting nervously. "Freeza's finished with his transformation!"

"You don't have to tell me that," Bulma said grimly. "I can feel it too." Freeza was so powerful right now that the very feel of him overwhelmed her chi sense and made her head hurt. "Oh hell!" she cursed angrily, giving up on the indecipherable control panel. "There's no time for this! Stand back, Dende!"

He did as she ordered, and Bulma carefully punched through the view port, shattering the glass and causing the blue liquid to come pouring out of the hole. She reached in and grabbed the inside rim of the view port with both hands. Then, pulling with all her might, she slowly tore the door away, allowing the rest of the liquid inside to pour out all over the floor - and herself. "Okay," she said, tossing the door aside and reaching in to detach the breathing apparatus from Goku's face. "I'm going to lay him down on the floor here, Dende," she said, pulling him gently out of the tank and hoisting him onto her shoulders.

"All right," Dende replied, stepping back to give her some more space. She laid Goku gently at his feet, and Dende knelt down beside him and placed his hands on Goku's chest.

"This shouldn't take long," Dende said as he began to concentrate.

"All right," Bulma sighed. They were halfway there. She concentrated her senses on what was happening out on the battlefield. Everyone was still out there - and pretty healthy, as far as she could tell - but only Vegita and Freeza's chi signatures were flaring and active. Vegita and Freeza had begun to fight. Bulma could tell right away that unless that whole "Super Saiyan" mumbo-jumbo kicked in soon, Vegita was in for a real beating. Although his chi and battle power were now truly magnificent, he was still insanely inferior to Freeza in both respects. Bulma shifted her weight around from one foot to the other in her nervousness. So far Freeza had only been toying with Vegita, but suddenly she felt a huge rush of chi as he turned up the juice. He then proceeded to beat the living snot out of the hapless Saiyan prince, and Bulma could sense each distinct blow as well as the toll it took on Vegita's strength. It wouldn't take very much more of this to put Vegita out of commission for good.

"All done!" Dende said suddenly, sitting back. Bulma spun around and saw - with no small degree of relief - that Goku was sitting up and lively as ever.

"Hey, thanks!" Goku said, patting Dende on the head. "You'd put all the doctors back on Earth to shame, Dende!"

Dende giggled, and he grinned at Bulma. He liked Goku already.

Goku got up onto his feet and stretched a bit. "Man, I feel great!" he said happily.

"Um, Goku?" Bulma said apprehensively. She could feel Veigta's signal dwindling. There was no time for this. They had to go now!

Goku must have known what she was thinking. "Right," he said. He was all business now. "I already know what's been going on, Bulma. I've been keeping up with things with my chi sense. Believe it or not, I was awake for everything after you guys finished your wishes and Freeza appeared."

"Um," Bulma said nervously, "we never did get to finish our wishes, Goku. I guess you'd better read my thoughts so you'll know what's going on. But hurry! We need to get out there quick, because Freeza's killing Vegita!"

"Right!" Goku said, his expression hardening. He put his hand on her head, and Bulma felt a slight tingling sensation on the back of her neck. It felt different when Goku read her mind. It took him much less time than it took Saichorou, however, and that was a good thing. "Okay, Bulma," he said when he was done. "Take me there now. You're right; I can feel Vegita's life slipping away."

"Should I go too?" Dende asked anxiously.

"No!" Goku said right away. "It's much too dangerous for you! Freeza will kill you on sight if he sees you again! No, I think it's best that we just leave you here. If we need your help, I'll send Bulma with whoever needs healing."

"But what if Bulma's the one who needs healing?" Dende asked worriedly.

Goku was at a loss for words. He scratched his head in consternation. Bulma almost giggled at him. He never had been much of a tactician.

"Ah well!" he said decisively and shrugging. "I'll just see to it that she doesn't have to fight!"

Bulma sighed. Oh yeah, that sounded easy enough! Leave it to Goku to think of a foolproof plan. "Don't worry Dende," she said reassuringly. "I'll be careful. You just wait; in no time at all we'll all come back to tell you the good news!"

"Ready, Goku?" she said quickly. Vegita was nearly gone.

"Ready!" he said. "Let's go, Bulma!"

She grabbed onto Goku's right arm. "Rapid teleport!" she cried. She took off with him through the ship and in no time - literally - they were outside and she was flying him toward the battlefield. She was too deep in concentration and worry to realize that for once, it was her turn to save Vegita's life.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: The Pride of a Saiyan**

When Bulma arrived with Goku on the battlefield, she couldn't believe her eyes. The creature that was strangling Vegita to death with its tail looked nothing like the Freeza that she had left back here a few minutes ago. He was sleek and white all over, except for the top of his head and his upper shoulders, which were capped with shiny, purple domes. If he weren't so inherently evil, Bulma might have marveled at his amazing new beauty. Instead, she snarled at him as if his dramatic change in appearance and power didn't affect her.

"Put him down, Freeza!" she ordered, stepping forward a few paces.

It was then that everyone noticed that they had arrived. Kuririn and Gohan rushed over to Goku, but he, Bulma, and Piccolo all kept their eyes glued to Freeza.

Freeza smiled almost affectionately at Bulma, and then, without ceremony, he tossed Vegita to one side with a mere flick of his tail. Vegita slammed into the rock wall less than twenty feet away, and he then slid clumsily back down to the ground, very much stunned by the blow. Bulma glared angrily at Freeza.

"I'm so happy you decided to join us again, my dear," Freeza said, smiling coyly. "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't return."

"Your fun and games end now, Freeza," Bulma snarled at him. "I hope you've enjoyed yourself, because this is the last planet you're going to infect with your vile presence!"

Freeza laughed airily. "And just who is going to stop me, my dear girl?" he asked jovially. "You?"

"No," Goku interjected coldly. "I am."

"You?" Freeza asked politely. "Are you really, now? And who might you be?"

"This is Son Goku," Bulma growled, glaring at Freeza with disdain. "He's a Saiyan, like Vegita. He's gonna be the one to kick your ass, Freeza; I hope you're prepared!"

Freeza really laughed this time. "I can't believe it!" he chuckled. "I missed one? I thought I killed all the brainless little monkeys, save Vegita and his little band of marauders! Oh, but you must be the one they went to Earth for, aren't you? You're Bardock's younger son, Kakkorot, am I right?"

Goku didn't answer him. He simply stood his ground and stared coldly at Freeza.

"Yes, now that I think about it, you look just like him," Freeza continued. "I remember Bardock very well indeed. He was in the first wave of planet Vegita's little rebellion against me, as a matter of fact. If memory serves me correctly, he was an even lower-class warrior than your brother! He was one of the first ones killed when I destroyed your home planet."

Goku didn't alter his stern expression at all. "What makes you think I care?" he asked curtly. "My home planet is Earth, not Vegita."

"Kakkorot!" Vegita suddenly rasped. "Kakkorot, listen! You must forget about that! You are a Saiyan, and your very heritage is what gives you your power! You must embrace it, Kakkorot! Embrace your Saiyan pride, and use it to destroy Freeza! He's defeated your race's only remaining monarch! You have to destroy him!" Vegita had actually worked himself into tears by now, surprising both Goku and the rest of their party. "As your prince, Kakkorot," he choked, "I order you to avenge me!"

Bulma was astounded. She had never seen Vegita break like this before. It gave her an odd feeling, seeing him behave so humanly. Maybe he had more emotion than he let on; at the very least, he was passionate enough about this one thing to shed tears for it. She marveled a bit at this realization, while Goku simply stared in astonishment at Vegita.

"Vegita," he said slowly, completely awestruck.

"Swear it!" Vegita managed to choke out at him. He was really struggling to breathe.

Goku didn't answer him. He couldn't. He just didn't know how to handle the image of Vegita crying in front of him. Finally, he recovered from his awe enough to decide what to do. "Bulma," he said abruptly. "Take Vegita to Dende. When you get back, you two join the others. I'll take care of Freeza."

"Right!" Bulma said, darting over to Vegita. She put one of his arms over her shoulders. "Take it easy, Vegita," she told him in a calm, reassuring voice. "We'll have you back to your grumpy old asshole self in no time."

"I beg to differ," Freeza said with a sudden sneer. The next thing Bulma knew, Freeza had fired a thin, potent chi beam at Vegita, which hit him in the chest and seared its way straight out the other side. Freeza had just shot Vegita straight through the heart!

Bulma felt a shuddering spasm surge through Vegita's body, and before she had time to utter an exclamation of surprise, he had expelled his last breath of air. He slumped limply then, and his lifeless body slid down off of her shoulders.

"No!" Bulma cried, beginning to shake. "It can't be!" She turned around and gaped at Freeza with a horrified expression. "You... you killed him!"

Freeza shot her a sinister grin. "Well, that _was_ the general idea," he said, chuckling merrily.

She trembled violently as pure rage began churning and boiling ferociously inside her. As she gaped at Freeza in astonishment, she instinctively directed this rage at him. She narrowed her eyes and began to power up without even realizing it.

"You..." she said, her voice cracking slightly. "You did that just to spite _me_, didn't you? You killed Vegita; you took his life away from him, just to get back at me! You unbelievable... _demon_!" She would have lunged at him then, but he made the first move. With almost no effort at all, he instantly appeared mere inches away from her and slapped the right side of her face with his left hand. Despite the simplicity of his attack, it had been such a powerful blow that it promptly sent Bulma crashing into the rock face, stunning her and causing her to slide down onto her hands and knees.

"My, but you are a hot-tempered little thing, aren't you?" Freeza laughed daintily behind one hand as she struggled to regain her composure.

"You can't play with people's lives like this!" she groaned, finally forcing herself up onto her feet. "I won't forgive you for what you did to Vegita. He may not exactly have been an innocent bystander, but you killed him for terrible reasons. A creature like you who so easily tosses a life aside on a whim has no right to one of his own!"

"Are you really that eager to join him so quickly?" Freeza laughed, crossing his arms.

"Enough!" Goku yelled, startling them both. "Bulma, you go join the others!" he ordered, pointing to Gohan, Kuririn, and Piccolo, who had begun to back away a bit. "You let me deal with Freeza!"

Bulma's head was still swimming, but she was able to tell by the tone of his voice and the expression on his face that Goku was furious. It really took a lot to make him this angry, and she knew better than to get in his way now. Giving him an obedient, shaky nod, she began to hobble away from Freeza toward the others.

Freeza must not have liked this plan of action. "I haven't dismissed you yet, girl!" he cried, darting after her. Before Goku could stop him, and before Bulma had time to even turn her head, Freeza had reached her and latched onto her arm, which he then used to fling her into the rock face again. She slammed into it back-first, but this time he didn't even give her a chance to hit the ground before he continued. He rushed forward, and while she was still pressed against the rock from her momentum, he began slamming punches into her stomach with such terrible force that Bulma distinctly heard (and felt) her ribs splintering with each hit. She had barely enough air in her lungs to let out a piercing scream before it was cut short with more blows to her gut and ribs. The pain was excruciating, but it was happening so quickly that she almost didn't have time to realize it.

It had only taken Freeza a second or two to accomplish all this, but it was all that he had needed. Even when Goku shot in and kicked him away - a _long_ distance away, it must be noted - it didn't matter. Freeza had managed in those crucial moments to completely incapacitate Bulma, and as she fell limply to the ground, Goku realized that he hadn't acted quickly enough. She was truly in dire straits.

"Kuririn! Gohan!" he shouted. They were already rushing back to help. "Take Bulma to Dende," he told them, gingerly lifting her broken body off of the ground and giving her to Kuririn. "After he heals her, I want you three to stay there with him. It's too dangerous for you here." He looked sorrowfully down at Bulma and grit his teeth. "I'm so sorry I didn't catch 'im in time, Bulma," he said, looking thoroughly disgusted with himself. "I should have been prepared for that."

"What about Piccolo-san?" Gohan asked suddenly. "He shouldn't stay here either!"

"I'd say the same thing," Goku said grimly, "but I know he won't listen. At the very least, he'll want to watch me defeat Freeza."

Bulma, unbeknownst to everyone, hadn't been unconscious for all of this. It startled everyone a great deal when she finally began to speak.

"Goku," she said hoarsely, after first coughing some of the blood out of her lungs. "Goku, listen to me. Don't show Freeza any mercy. When you defeat him, you have to kill him. There's no other way. He's just too powerful and too prideful to let a simple defeat stop him. Besides, he knows where our home planet is. If you let him live..." she had to stop then, because she had suddenly broken out into a painful bout of coughing. She coughed most of the blood out of her lungs, but she was unable to continue, as every breath felt like a knife in her chest, and it was all she could do to keep from screaming in pain.

"Bulma, are you all right?" Kuririn asked in a panicky voice. Bulma nodded, forcing a smile. She was in too much pain to speak, but she didn't want him to panic.

"You'd better go," Goku said firmly. "Don't worry about things here. I'll take care of it."

They all nodded and left Goku to deal with Freeza. They passed Piccolo before they left, and Bulma made a sudden, desperate grab for Piccolo's arm as they passed, causing Kuririn to stop, and Gohan to follow suit.

"Piccolo," she rasped, ignoring the pain out of desperation. "You've got to make Goku kill Freeza! If he won't do it, then you'll have to! Please! Pic-co..." she had spoken too much, and she gasped and coughed violently, crying aloud in agony between coughs.

Piccolo nodded gravely at her. "I know," he agreed. "Don't concern yourself with that matter. Freeza isn't going to leave this planet alive. If Son doesn't have the stomach to finish him off, I certainly won't have the same problem."

"Be careful, Piccolo-san," Gohan said nervously. "Daddy's worried about your safety too."

"Heh," Piccolo snorted. "Your father has his own hide to worry about. Don't sweat it, kid. I won't get in his way. Move along to Dende now, before it's too late. If you three don't feel like hiding out back there, then go ahead and come back. I'll most likely be a lot farther away than this when the real fighting starts, and it won't matter if you join me or not. It's up to you."

"All right," Kuririn said. "We'll be back in a little while then. Come on, Gohan." He shot off for Freeza's ship, still carrying Bulma. Gohan waved goodbye to Piccolo before he took off after them.

"Are you okay, Bulma?" Kuririn asked as she let out a yelp when he shifted her in an effort to fly more quickly. At least one of her broken ribs had punctured a lung. She labored to breathe as shallowly as she could.

She shot him a feeble grin and nodded. "I've... been... better," she croaked at him.

"That was pretty bad back there," Kuririn said grimly. "I can't believe you just played right into Freeza's taunting like that. You coulda been killed, Bulma."

Bulma wanted to tell him that it had been all her fault that Vegita was dead, but she had all but lost the ability to speak, so the disquieting thought had to remain her own. She knew all too well by now that if she had only stopped time first, both she and Vegita would be with Dende by now, and in perfect health. Looking back on her actions, the only thing she could figure about her terrible lapse in judgment was that she had no longer considered Freeza as much of a threat, what with Goku there. Why else would she have lowered her guard so terrifically?

She was supremely angry with herself. Thanks to her carelessness and weakness, Vegita had been killed. When it had happened, the extreme rage and self-loathing that had come to her had been so much easier to direct at Freeza than at herself, so unfortunately, she had done just that, and it had nearly cost her her own life. She had played right into Freeza's little mind-game, and it made her sick with regret and self-directed anger.

After about ten minutes more, they arrived at Freeza's ship, and surprisingly, Dende was waiting for them right outside.

"I could sense you coming," he explained as they landed. "I figured I ought to save you the trouble of carrying her inside the ship. I did have the darndest time finding the way out, though!"

"Well, at least you already know why we're here," Kuririn sighed, gently laying the prone Bulma on the ground. "She's hurt pretty bad, Dende. She needs your help."

"At least _I'm_ still alive," Bulma choked out at them bitterly. "Vegita... wasn't... so lucky."

"Just let it go, Bulma," Kuririn said, squeezing her hand affectionately. "Vegita's dead, but there's no use beating yourself up about it. It's not your fault that Freeza's a sadistic psycho. Besides, there was nothing you could have done. Freeza already knew what you were about to do, and his reflexes are much faster than yours. Just be glad that Goku was able to jump in before he killed you too."

"Yeah," Gohan exclaimed. "You can't even begin to realize how scared I was that Freeza was about to kill you, Bulma! Thank Kami-sama my dad was fast enough to knock him away in time!" Gohan looked like he was about to cry. Bulma felt like crying a little herself. These two cared so much about her, and she loved them like little brothers. Despite that, their kind words didn't have the desired effect.

She was grateful for their concern, but their entreaties did little, if anything, to ease her guilt. She knew beyond any doubt that Vegita had died needlessly, all thanks to her negligence. Vegita may not have been a good person, but he shouldn't have had to die that way. She didn't know why, but this thought plagued her more than anything else. Even if it had been Vegita, she couldn't stand having his death on her conscience, and the thought filled her with a strange, sickening sorrow.

Bulma closed her eyes and drew in an excruciating, shallow breath. It would have been so nice to fall asleep and wake up to find out that this was all just a horrible dream. Oddly enough, it didn't surprise her at all to find that she was at least able to find sleep with ease. Her thoughts began to blur as she quickly slipped into unconsciousness. She hadn't been aware of it, but her lungs had both collapsed, thanks to their puncture wounds from her shattered ribcage. She was quickly beginning to die from lack of oxygen.

Dende gasped in surprise as he realized that she was slipping away from them. "Get back!" he cried. "If I don't heal her quickly it will be too late!" Kuririn and Gohan obediently stepped away to give him some room, and Dende began to revive Bulma. Much to everyone's relief, in less than a minute she was back to normal, and she was sitting upright again. "Whew!" Dende sighed. "That was closer than it needed to be! From now on we heal first and talk later, okay?"

"You've got it," Kuririn said soberly.

Bulma got to her feet and directed a stern glare toward the battlefield. "Thanks again Dende," she said without even turning to glance at him. "This is twice now that I owe you my life."

"You owe me nothing," he said emphatically. "I can't repay you guys enough for what you're doing. Besides, if it weren't for you guys, I'd be dead right now! If anyone owes someone his life it's me!"

Bulma shrugged. "Well," she said quietly, "thanks just the same, but now I think it's time to go. Goku may not want us there, but this is one time that I refuse to do what he wants. Freeza has me really worried, and I'm not going to leave Goku alone with him. Freeza's killed for the last time. I'm going to see his end, even if it kills _me_."

Kuririn stared at Bulma in awe. He had never seen her so focused. She was definitely angry, but she wasn't raging out of control like usual. It was weird. Maybe that last experience with Freeza had changed her somehow.

"You two are coming with me, right?" she asked, glancing back at Kuririn and Gohan. "I'm ready if you are."

"Right," Kuririn said. "Let's go, Gohan. Piccolo's waiting."

"Please be careful!" Dende cried as they took off. "Freeza may not give you any other chances to come see me, you know!"

They waved back at him reassuringly before they rocketed off toward the battlefield at high speed. Bulma was at the head of the pack, and she still had that same stern, focused expression on her face. Kuririn glanced at her nervously. He wondered what was on Bulma's mind. What could this new calm in Bulma mean? Was she planning something? Was this just a calm before the storm?

It was just a little less than ten minutes before they arrived back on the battlefield - or at least a half-mile from it. They met Piccolo there, and he informed them that it would be in their best interests to stay pretty far off. Freeza and Goku were both in a league all their own, and even people of his own caliber had no business getting in the way.

Bulma scowled as she scrutinized the two chi presences emanating from the huge dust cloud ahead of them. It was crackling so loudly in there that they could distinctly hear the thunderous reverberations, even from where they were. It was terrifying the way those two were clashing in there! Goku and Freeza were unbelievable!

She sighed angrily. "How long has it been going on like this?" she asked Piccolo.

"Not long," he replied. "Freeza and Son toyed with each other for a little while, but Freeza got tired of his own game eventually. I left when they decided it was time to stop acting like children and get serious, but it wasn't more than ten minutes before you three showed up. The way the landscape has become so scarred and gouged out there, it does seem as if they've been at it for hours. If things get much worse, we'll have to move back some more."

"Piccolo-san," Gohan said quietly, "do you think my dad can win?"

"I don't know for sure, kid," Piccolo said frankly. "Having fought with Freeza already, I know that he's much too powerful to judge by my own standards. Then again, so is your father, and it's possible that Son may surprise me in the end. You never know just how good he is until the situation is at its bleakest. Sometimes I think that he wins simply because he doesn't know that he can't. I always detested that about him, to be frank."

Bulma chuckled. Piccolo wasn't much for summoning forth reassuring words. At least his fusion with Nail hadn't changed that much about him. On the other hand, he did have a point. No matter how the odds seemed to stack up against him, Goku did have a way of producing miracles out of thin air. Besides, Freeza and Goku weren't too far from each other in ability out there, as near as she could sense. Of course, Goku could be pretty maxed out right now. There really was no way of telling without seeing for herself.

"Well, I suppose all we can do now is wait," Kuririn sighed, looking defeated. "I wish to Kami that I could help him out there, but I know that there's no place for me in a fight like that. I just can't stand waiting things like this out!"

Piccolo nodded with an affirmative grunt. He was too focused on the battle to pay much attention to them right now.

Bulma reached over and grabbed Kuririn's hand so that she could squeeze it. She didn't have any reassuring words to offer either, but at least she could let Kuririn know that she knew how he felt.

Kuririn looked down at his hand, and then he tilted his face down to stare at his boots as his cheeks turned crimson. Bulma giggled softly and let go of him. Kuririn took things a bit seriously sometimes. She couldn't help liking the awkward guy. He always seemed to get the worst of things.

"Perhaps we should make ourselves comfortable," Piccolo grumbled with an irritated sigh. "Those two are going to be at it for a _long_ time." He said it with a certainty that confused the others, but even he wasn't aware of just how very correct his prediction had been.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: The Genki Dama - Reprise**

This was indeed turning out to be a long fight. Bulma frowned and looked at her watch. Freeza and Goku had been at it for over an hour now, and so far, neither one had shown signs of giving up. It was easy enough to see that Goku was slowing down, though. His chi signature had gotten much weaker in the past few minutes, and it was making everyone nervous.

Suddenly Piccolo gasped. He had previously been in one of his trademark meditative poses, but now he was gaping in astonishment at something in the sky over the battlefield.

"Damn it all!" he cried, as little beads of sweat appeared on his brow. "Has it come to this already, Son? Is there no other choice?"

Bulma's curiosity had been aroused. "What is it?" she asked. "What's Goku up to?"

"He's resorting to the genki dama!" Piccolo exclaimed. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before! That thing must have been building for minutes! It's massive!"

Bulma looked up at the glowing ball in the sky and gasped. It was definitely larger than the one he'd used on Earth!

"He's going to need our help," Piccolo growled grimly. "He can't form the genki dama and fight Freeza at the same time. No wonder he's been getting so weak. Freeza's been attacking him all this time! Give me your hands!" he barked suddenly.

Kuririn and Gohan each took one of Piccolo's hands. There wasn't one for Bulma to grab, but she wouldn't have done so even if there had been. "What are you doing?" she asked impatiently.

"I need you three to lend me your power," he said quickly. "I'll need it to hold Freeza off of Goku. It's the only way!"

"Wait!" Bulma cried. "I have a better idea! Just leave it to me! All I'll have to do is teleport Freeza to the other side of the planet! It'll take him at least ten minutes to get back here, and if we need more time, I can teleport him away again!"

"That's incredible!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You're a genius, Bulma!"

Bulma smiled. "Yeah, that's what they tell me," she said with a shrug.

"All right," Piccolo said with a wry smile. "Your plan's a good one, Briefs, but it won't be of any use to us unless you hurry up with it. We don't have time for idle chatter."

Bulma grinned. "Right," she said. "I'll meet you all out there with Goku. See you then!"

She took off for the battlefield then, stopping time as she jumped up into the air. When she got to the dust cloud, she realized with a great deal of surprise that Goku and Freeza were a good distance away. They must have come out so that they could see each other. She knew Goku wouldn't have needed to, but Freeza would have. Goku must have followed him out or something. Anyway, it didn't really matter. She had reached them now, and she stared in shock at the incredible tableau laid out before her eyes. Goku was standing upright, with his arms held straight up toward the sky. He was all scuffed and battered, and the top of his gi had been nearly totally blown off. Bulma was horrified by how vulnerable this attack left the user. No wonder Piccolo had said Goku needed their help.

Freeza was hanging suspended in the air in the middle of a flying kick aimed at Goku's face. Bulma grimaced as she was made starkly aware of the danger this technique posed to Goku, and how terribly effective it must be for him to endure Freeza's attacks for it. This must have been why the genki dama only seemed to be used as a last resort. Sighing, Bulma grabbed Freeza by his tail and flew off with him. She grinned as she tried to decide whether to appear briefly in front of him when she had taken him to the place she was going to drop him off. She frowned though, remembering all the times that taunting Freeza had ended in disaster. She decided that she'd play it safe this time. She'd been burned too many times with Freeza because of her big mouth.

After several hours of very fast flight, Bulma decided that she was about as far away as she could be. She stopped and looked around. There were small lakes everywhere below. Her eyes gleamed with mischief at the possibilities. One little prank couldn't hurt, especially if she didn't stick around to see the results. She flew with Freeza down to the lake directly below them. She dove in and pulled him along behind her. She grinned as she stuffed him down in the mud at the bottom. Boy was he going to be mad!

She shot up out of the water when she was finished, and she was about to fly back when she stopped as a disturbing thought occurred to her. When she started time again, Freeza would be mad all right. He'd be mad, and he wouldn't know where he was. If she were in Freeza's position, she'd be mad enough to do something _very_ nasty – like destroying the planet, for example. It probably wouldn't take much to tempt him to do this, considering the fact that he'd lost his chance at making a wish on the dragonballs. Perhaps she ought to clue him in as to at least where he was, and how to get back to Goku. He'd be mad, but at least he'd know what was going on, so chances were good that he'd be more inclined to punish them all in a much more painful, gradual way than by simply destroying Namek.

Bulma drew in a slow breath and let time flow again. The water closed in around the tubes she'd made in it. About a second later, an angry, boiling mass of foam and mud popped out of the water. In a brilliant flash of chi power, Freeza did a rather impressive job of drying and cleaning himself off.

"Where the hell am I?" he snorted, looking around. "Humph," he grunted when he noticed Bulma. "I might have guessed you'd be behind this. The way you keep coming back to life really gets on my nerves. So let me guess; you're trying to keep me from killing your Saiyan friend, is that it? Figuring on keeping me here, wherever the hell this is?"

"Not exactly," Bulma said quietly. She could sense the incredible power of the genki dama that Goku was creating, even from the other side of the planet. She sighed. She hoped this would work.

"Look," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "I'm going to level with you, Freeza. I teleported you here so that I could buy Goku some time. I won't tell you why, but I will tell you at least that much. I realize that this is a sneaky way of doing things, but it was the only way. Now, I'm going to cut you a little slack, Freeza," she said, noticing his furious expression with a little amusement, despite her efforts to remain passive. "Since you don't have the ability to sense your opponent's position like we can, I'll tell you where to go to find Goku. You're exactly on the opposite side of the planet from him, so just pick any direction and keep with it. I estimate that with your power and speed, it'll take you less than a quarter of an hour to find Goku. Oh, and just so you won't miss him, he's going to place a very bright beacon in the sky above him to help you find him. Man, I haven't seen Goku this excited about a battle since his fight with Vegita! You're really giving him a run for his money, Freeza. Ciao for now!"

Avoiding the angry protest she knew would come, she immediately stopped time and took off. She smiled with satisfaction at the fact that she had managed to avoid giving him a chance to attack, and her smile evolved into a grin as she reveled in her own cunning. Poor Freeza was in for the most unpleasant surprise of his life!

It took her a good four hours - with time stopped, of course - to make it back to Goku. When she had returned to the battlefield, she sunk to the ground, landing on her hands and knees. She was exhausted. Namek was a _big_ planet. Before she let time resume its course, she glanced at the current state of affairs around her. Goku was where he had been when she'd left him, but boy did he look confused! Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan were just within viewing distance. Good. They could help her keep a lookout for Freeza. She glanced up at the enormous orb of energy above them. "That must be all the way out in space!" she thought, shielding her eyes from the intense light. Even through the blue haze of halted time, the genki dama was spectacularly bright – so much so, in fact, that it could have been mistaken for another sun. Bulma let time flow again and got back to her feet.

"Just keep working on the genki dama," she said with a hand raised to silence Goku's imminent exclamation of surprise. "I took care of Freeza for the time being. I teleported him away to the other side of Namek. He won't be back for at least another ten minutes!"

She sat down on the ground next to him and crossed her legs. "Don't you worry about a thing, Goku," she said with a short sigh. "We've got Freeza covered." She smiled up at him.

Goku let out a long breath and nodded. He really did look messed up. Bulma was still amazed at how well he had done against Freeza. Goku was really something!

Piccolo, Gohan, and Kuririn flew up to join them. They looked around nervously for Freeza.

"Don't worry," Bulma said wearily. "He's gone for now. He won't be back for a good ten or fifteen minutes."

"You may have done more harm than good in sending Freeza so far away," Piccolo said suddenly, frowning deeply. "A disturbing thought occurred to me on the way over here."

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked him as a twinge of alarm disturbed her relaxed mind. "Why have I done more harm than good?"

"What I mean is that when Freeza gets close enough, the first thing he'll see won't be us or Son. It'll be the genki dama. Son's chance at a surprise attack will have been lost, and it's also entirely possible that he might try to destroy it!" Gohan and Kuririn gasped in horror, and Goku's eyes shot open wide with alarm.

"Oh, _that_!" Bulma laughed with relief, dismissively waving it away. "Don't worry; I took care of that too. Don't give it another thought, Piccolo."

"Uh... could you maybe elaborate a bit?" Kuririn asked her. "Just how did you 'take care of that,' Bulma?"

Bulma shot him a sly grin. "I told our friend Freeza before I left him that Goku was going to leave a 'bright beacon' in the sky above him to let the big jerk know where to find him. I made it sound like Goku was all excited to fight him! Freeza wouldn't dream of passing up a challenge like that, and he'll think nothing more of Goku's genki dama than we would a harmless old light bulb!"

Kuririn and Gohan laughed gleefully at this, and Goku beamed. Even Piccolo shot her a rare smirk of approval.

"Have I told you yet that you're a genius?" Kuririn laughed, slapping Bulma heartily on the back.

Bulma just smiled and shrugged. She liked compliments as much as the next person, but right now she was just too tired to care.

"Son," Piccolo said suddenly. "How much longer do you need?"

"Only a couple of minutes," he replied, his face drawn with heavy fatigue and concentration. "I'm having to tap into the power of the nearby stars and planets. Namek doesn't have enough strength by itself to beat 'im."

Piccolo nodded. He sure seemed to know a lot about this, Bulma thought to herself. She supposed that it must have been because he had been at Kaio-sama's before they'd wished him back to life. Kaio-sama was the one who had taught Goku this technique.

"Hey, Piccolo," she said, looking up at him. "Did Kaio-sama teach you how to form the genki dama too?"

Piccolo sneered. "He tried," he said caustically. "I learned the principle behind it, but the simple fact of the matter is that my soul isn't pure enough to control it. Yamucha ran into the same problem, but Tenshinhan and Chouzu were making good progress when you wished me back. So far, though, only Son has mastered the technique better than Kaio."

"Hm," Bulma murmured, looking down. "Yamucha's soul wasn't pure enough, huh?"

"That was the thought," Piccolo said, shrugging. " Kaio told him that it just wasn't quiet enough."

Bulma shrugged too. "Oh well. Yamucha can be as much of a hothead as I am sometimes. I daresay I would have the same problem."

Piccolo grunted. "Well, at any rate, we'll have to be sure it hits Freeza," he said grimly. "A genki dama this big isn't going to have any problem destroying this planet if it misses him. Son's taking a great risk on this."

"We sure won't be able to bounce _this_ one back," Gohan remarked, squinting at it and frowning worriedly.

Bulma shook her head and forced a smile. "We can't look at it that way," she told them, trying to sound cheerful. "Even if it misses Freeza initially, the destruction of Namek will kill him anyway. I hope you guys aren't offended by my saying this," she added, looking at the ground thoughtfully, "but our lives should be no great sacrifice if it means ridding the universe of Freeza. Just think of the countless worlds he has yet to exterminate, including Earth. I'd say it'd make a good trade-off."

Piccolo snorted. "I suppose I could bear dying again if it meant that Freeza died as well," he said, "but I'm at least going to make an effort to survive. I'm not exactly eager to be sent back to that ridiculous Kaio's tiny planet."

"Don't worry," Goku said with a grin. "I'll get 'im. You can count on it."

Bulma sighed and reluctantly picked herself up off the ground. She wondered how much more time they had left before Freeza got there.

"There," Goku said suddenly, relaxing a little. "I'm sure it's strong enough now. I'm ready for this, and it's a good thing, because Freeza's nearly here. I can sense him coming. Boy, is he ever mad!"

"Yeah, well," Bulma said nervously, putting her hand behind her head and looking at her feet. "I'm afraid that's my fault. I couldn't help playing a little trick on him earlier, and I may have made him a little angrier than need be. You can't exactly say that he and I get along very well."

"He doesn't care too much about me either," Goku said, winking at her. "Don't worry. His hatred'll draw the genki dama right to him. With as much evil chi as that little guy has in 'im, it can't miss!"

"Well, just the same," Bulma said, tensing up as she too began to sense Freeza's approach, "I just wanted to let you guys know that if we do end up biting the big one here, there's no one else I'd rather spend my last few moments of life with. My only regret would be that there'd be no way for me to make up for all the times you guys have saved my neck."

"The feeling is mutual," Kuririn said, smiling briefly at her, "but we'd better get ready, because here he comes!"

Bulma could just make out the tiny speck on the horizon that Kuririn had referred to. She was able to see that just by flying over the ground, the sheer power of Freeza's chi aura was carving out an enormous gully beneath him along his path of flight. He was immediately succeeded by the very large cloud of dust and debris that he was kicking up behind him. Freeza was furious!

"Not quite..." Goku said, tensing his muscles. "Almost..." He paused, and suddenly his eyes opened wide. "_Now_!" he yelled, and - roaring with the effort - Goku dragged his arms down through the air. Bulma looked up to see the genki dama stretch a bit, and then it began to move. Slowly at first, it shot downward. Bulma looked off toward Freeza. He hadn't noticed the genki dama yet. He was probably watching Goku. He kept coming at them. It would probably be only a few seconds more before he would reach them, but as Bulma looked up once more, she saw the white orb of energy break though the atmosphere. It was moving much faster than Freeza by now. Bulma shot a broad grin at Freeza as he came within one hundred yards of them. Still grinning, she pointed up at the genki dama.

Freeza came to a screeching halt when he saw her, and he looked up. "What the hell?" he exclaimed at the approaching blast.

Bulma cupped her hands around her mouth. "Betcha can't block this one!" she yelled at him.

Freeza growled with his eyes narrowed as he stared at the blinding and immense ball of energy heading for him. He braced himself for the impact. He was going to try to bounce it away!

"It's going to work!" Bulma said to herself excitedly. "His ego's the only part of him bigger than his strength, and it won't let him pass up this challenge! Goku did it!"

"Uh, guys?" Kuririn said as Freeza flew up to meet the genki dama. "Don't you think we should be a little farther away than this?"

Goku's face lost a little color. "I think that might be a good idea," he laughed nervously.

"Freeza might think we're trying to escape," Piccolo said. "He might try to follow us."

Goku frowned. "You're right," he said. "I'll stay as long as it takes for the blast to completely swallow him up. You guys get out of here!"

"No way!" Bulma yelled. The sound of the genki dama had become a dull roar.

Gohan balled his hands into fists and nodded furiously. "We're staying with you, Daddy!"

"No!" Goku yelled. "Get out of here! I'll be just fine!"

"Son's right!" Piccolo yelled over the din. "Come on!" He grabbed onto Bulma's and Gohan's arms and shot off with them at top speed.

"Good luck, Goku!" Kuririn shouted, taking off after them. "We'll meet you again when it's over, right?"

Goku shot him a thumbs up, and Kuririn raced to catch up to the others. Goku shielded his face with his arm and watched tensely as Freeza met the genki dama head on. It began pushing the evil creature toward the ground.

"Piccolo!" Bulma protested angrily. "Let me go! I can fly on my own, you know!"

"If you fly back to Son, I'll knock you senseless!" Piccolo said through gritted teeth. He let her go and she took up flight alongside him. She rubbed her sore arm angrily. He needn't have treated her like a child, for goodness' sake!

"Hey guys, wait for me!" Kuririn called behind them. "I'm coming!"

"Hurry up!" Piccolo barked. "We're not slowing down!"

Kuririn just grinned and strained to keep up. "Last I saw it was forcing Freeza toward the ground!" he yelled. "That thing's awfully strong!"

Piccolo snarled. "Yeah! And if it goes all the way _through_ the ground, we're history! It had better engulf Freeza before then!"

"Whoa! Incoming!" Bulma yelled as they raced past an airborne boulder. There were huge boulders and uprooted trees flying though the air at high speeds, and they were flying in the same direction as the four retreating fighters. Although the high winds were powering the flight of the large objects, Bulma and her friends' flight was much faster, so they whipped past the large projectiles as if they were standing still. They were still flying when the big explosion went off. Piccolo sensed it coming, and he made everyone get down to the ground just before it reached them.

When it hit, it felt like the whole planet was shuddering. First came the shock wave, and it was so huge - so enormous - that regardless of how well they had braced themselves, and how far away they were, it still managed to sweep them away like mere bits of fuzz. They were blown several hundred yards away, amidst a storm of debris that ranged in size from dust grains all the way to house-sized boulders, and although it seemed like an eternity to Bulma, she didn't even have time to scream before she fell flat on the ground and a bunch of rocks, dirt, and plant matter rained down on top of her. She waited, rather stunned, for the rumbling to subside before she picked herself up out of the rubble to look around. There were rocks and debris everywhere, and no sign of her friends in sight.

"Gohan! Kuririn! Piccolo!" she yelled, floating up about ten feet to scan around.

"We're over here, Bulma!" Kuririn called from the left. Bulma looked in the direction of his voice to see Kuririn and Gohan trying to lift an enormous boulder off of Piccolo's right leg. She flew down to give them a hand.

"Hang on," she said, grabbing onto it on the other side. "Okay, I've got it now. All together!" They heaved the massive chunk of rock off of Piccolo's leg and rolled it off to the side.

Piccolo-san!" Gohan cried, rushing to his sensei's side. "Are you okay?"

"Heh," Piccolo grunted, picking himself up and hopping upright onto his good leg. The other one had been fairly badly mangled from the knee down. He wouldn't be able to fly, let alone walk very well with that. "It's quite an inconvenience to have a lame appendage. I'll have to take care of this. Don't worry. We Nameks have amazing regenerative abilities. As long as our head remains intact, we can regenerate any parts of our bodies that get cut off."

"But Piccolo-san," Gohan said, "you leg hasn't been cut off."

"It will be," Piccolo replied with a grim smile.

"Huh?" Gohan said with a confused tilt of his head. Piccolo shot Bulma and Kuririn a commanding look, which they interpreted correctly.

"Come on, Gohan," Bulma said. "You probably won't want to see this. Let's go see if we can find your dad. I'm really worried about him."

"Oh yeah!" Kuririn cried. "Come on; we better hurry! Oh, uh, Piccolo, do you need any help with this? My kienzan would do the trick, you know."

"No," Piccolo growled impatiently. "Just go on ahead. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"I'll teleport us there," Bulma said, taking their hands. "There's no telling how much time Goku has left!"

"Wait!" Gohan cried. "Dende! We forgot Dende! If that shock wave made it to Freeza's ship, he could be hurt! We need to check on him too!"

"I think I'll save us some trouble," Bulma sighed, "if I just teleport there and check on him. I'll bring him back with me, and if he's okay, it might be handy to have him along if Goku's in bad shape."

"Good idea," Kuririn said. "Are you up to it, Bulma?"

"I'm only a little tired," she said dismissively. "I'll be fine. I'll meet you guys out there, okay? Bye!" She then stopped time and took off for Freeza's ship. She hoped everyone would turn out to be okay!


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: Freeza's Biggest Mistake**

On the way to Freeza's ship, Bulma noticed the amount of debris gradually dwindle until there were barely any visible signs of damage. She hadn't run into any particularly dense pockets of air along the way, so she figured that the gradual decrease in damage meant that the blast had fairly well dissipated, and she wasn't just moving out ahead of the shockwave. When she reached Freeza's ship, she noticed with a great deal of relief that Dende was right out in the open, and he was sitting up on top of the ship. She hopped up there next to him and let time flow again.

"Bulma!" he cried when he saw her. "What's happened? Have you won?"

"We sure have!" Bulma said, beaming at him. "At least, I assume we have, since Goku's genki dama hasn't destroyed the planet..."

"Wha... what?" Dende gasped.

"It's a long story," Bulma laughed, "but don't worry. Goku made mincemeat out've Freeza. Your people have been avenged, Dende."

"I'm so glad," Dende sighed. "It's just too bad that Nail and I are the only ones left. Poor Cargo... and Saichorou! Everyone's all gone!"

"Don't worry too much about it," Bulma said, grinning mysteriously. "I have a feeling you'll see them all again within the next month at least!"

"What?" Dende cried. "What do you mean?"

Bulma giggled. "I'll tell you in a little while, but first I need your help. Are you okay? Did the shock wave from the final blast come through here too?"

"I'm all right," Dende replied. "A few minutes ago, a huge gust of wind came through, but that was after the Namekshake. They weren't bad enough to hurt me, though."

"Wait a minute," Bulma said. "What's a Namekshake?"

"It's when the ground shakes really hard," Dende explained. "Muuri - the village elder - used to tell me that it happens when the planet gets cold, but I think he was just being silly."

"Oh!" Bulma cried, laughing at herself. "Of course! Well, on my planet we call them 'earthquakes.' Anyway, I asked you if you were all right because I need you to come with me, Dende. Goku might be hurt pretty badly, and it would mean a lot to us if you could be there to heal him if he is."

"Sure!" Dende said. "For what he's done, it's the least I can do! I'm ready whenever you are. Let's go!"

"All right!" Bulma said, taking his hand. "I'm warning you now, Dende. I haven't been out there yet, so I don't know what we'll find. Prepare yourself for something unpleasant just in case, okay?"

He nodded at her and set his jaw with resolution. "Good," she said with a grin of approval. "All right then; let's go!"

She stopped time and flew them all the way out to ground zero. Bulma whistled when she saw how barren the landscape had become. There were large basins everywhere where the land had been scooped out by the high winds and energy emissions. Everything below a certain depth was filling with water, if it hadn't been filled already. Bulma frowned. How were they going to find Goku in all of this?

She was looking around nervously in halted time, before all at once she noticed a hand sticking up out of the water in one of the newer lakes. She let time flow again, only to see it submerge beneath the waves.

"Follow me, Dende!" she cried, zooming down to the surface of the water. She reached in and grabbed for the black patch of hair that was just beneath the surface.

"Got him!" she cried, pulling his head out of the water and then reaching for his arm. "Here, take his other arm and help me," she said, lifting him out of the water. "Let's get him to that island over there."

They flew his limp body out onto the large piece of rock jutting out of the water. Bulma looked him over carefully.

"He's half drowned at the very least," she said grimly. "We'll have to get some of the water out of his lungs. Stand back, Dende. I'll need to get him breathing on his own again before you can help him."

Bulma began performing CPR on him, all the while trying to remain calm. She thanked Kami they'd made her take that health class in college.

After about the third time through with mouth to mouth, Goku finally began to cough and splutter, and he choked most of the water out of his lungs. Bulma leaned back and sighed. Thank goodness!

Goku sat up and grinned at her woozily. "You know, if Chichi had seen that, she might have killed us both," he said, laughing weakly.

Bulma only shook her head in reply. She was just so relieved that he was alive.

"All right," she said in a tired voice. "Go to it, Dende."

"Right!" Dende cried, kneeling down next to Goku and making him lie back. It only took Dende a minute to get him back to normal, but it felt much longer to Bulma, given that she was unable to make herself relax just yet. It had been such a stressful, frantic day. She kept waiting for some new calamity to befall them.

"Goku!" someone suddenly cried above them. Bulma looked up just in time to see Kuririn and Gohan zip down to meet them, and Piccolo - new leg and all - wasn't too far behind. Bulma smiled a tired but happy smile as Gohan hugged his father. It looked as though it was finally over.

"What happened?" Kuririn asked excitedly as Goku put Gohan on his shoulder and stood upright. "Is Freeza dead?"

"After all that, he'd better be," Piccolo murmured with a scowl.

Goku grinned. "Well, the genki dama swallowed 'im up all right," he said, yawning and scratching his head, "and it exploded right after that. I guess I got knocked out when that happened, because I don't remember anything from then on. I'm pretty sure he's not a threat to us anymore, though."

"So you didn't see him die?" Bulma gasped, every sense on edge as she frantically scanned for his chi. "Well... I can't sense him anywhere," she said shakily. "Maybe he really is dead."

"Even if he isn't, he's way worse off than me now!" Goku laughed boisterously, flexing an arm. "Thanks to Dende, at least! Still," he added, his expression becoming more serious, "even if he did survive, he's definitely lost either way. I say we just leave it be."

Bulma and Piccolo exchanged looks. Oh well. The chances that Freeza had survived that blast were next to nothing anyway.

"Well, Goku," Kuririn said. "Come on. Let's get back to your ship. I wanna get off this crazy planet - no offense, Dende. Come to think of it," he muttered, scratching his head and frowning at the Namek child, "it might not be a bad idea for you to come with us. I'd hate to think of you bein' here all alone when we leave."

Dende looked at his feet. "There's nothing left for me here," he said quietly. "Everyone's dead. I guess that if I have to leave, at least I'll be going where Nail... I mean Piccolo is going. Just... just let me go fill a bag up with Ajiisa seeds, okay? I want something to remind me of home."

"Lead the way, Dende," Goku said, wringing some of the water out of his pant legs. "We're right behind you."

"Indeed we are," came a sinister, yet all too familiar voice behind them. They all spun around and gasped in horror. It was Freeza, and he didn't look at all like he'd just been nearly killed. In fact, he was barely scratched up!

"It can't be!" Bulma exclaimed, backing away on shaking legs. "How could you have survived the genki dama?"

Freeza's eyes narrowed as he glared contemptuously at her. "A beacon indeed," he said quietly. "Quite a clever trick you pulled on me. Well, it just so happens that I've a trick to play on you, my dear. This time, I'm going to dispose of you properly, once and for all!"

He raised his hand a little, and bulma suddenly couldn't move. She felt just like she was back in Gurudo's telekinetic grip, only Freeza's hold on her was much more oppressive and chilling, not to mention much more difficult to struggle against.

"Wha?" she yelped. "What's happening? I can't move!" She let out a terrified shriek as she suddenly shot up into the air, her movements corresponding to the movement of Freeza's arm. She came to a jarring stop some thirty feet above them. She could feel an intense pressure on her entire body, and as she saw Freeza's fingers slowly close in toward his palm, she became frighteningly aware of what was coming. She could move her arms and legs a little by now, and she stretched one hand toward her friends in abject terror. "_Goku_!" she screamed, her eyes wide with fright.

"Freeza, no!" Goku hollered, lunging at him.

It was too late, however. Freeza had acted too quickly for Goku to stop him in time. Before there had even been time for him to take the first step, Freeza had already closed his hand into a fist, and Bulma knew no more as she exploded in midair. Freeza had been so thorough in atomizing her that there was nothing left of Bulma to fall to the ground when it was over. Goku came to an abrupt halt, staring in horrified disbelief at the rapidly disintegrating miasma of red smoke that marked the end of the friend he'd known longer than any other. Bulma was dead, and he had let it happen.

Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende stood rooted in place, too astonished and horrified by the ghastly scene that had just occurred to move a muscle. Goku, on the other hand, was not still at all. He had began to tremble. His trembling quickly escalated to violent quaking. His anger at what Freeza had just done to Bulma was fueling an intense surge of energy. He had never been so angry and so full of rage at someone in his life.

As Freeza turned around and glared cruelly at them, Goku's chi turned yellow, and he screamed in anguish. With a bloodcurdling scream of rage, his aura exploded with a bright flash, and his hair turned a glowing, golden yellow. He snarled, and his cobalt eyes fell on the very astonished Freeza. Goku had just become a Super Saiyan.

Freeza felt a chill run through him as the imposing glare of Goku filled him with a queer sense of dread. This monkey had just undergone some kind of transformation... but... but surely it was all show! Yes, that must have been it! He only had to fight him in earnest, and all would be well. He glared at Goku with renewed contempt. How dare he try to intimidate him!

Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende stared at Goku in unparalleled awe. The strength of his chi was beyond all reason. He had become a veritable god of rage, and his fury was ever building the longer he stared at his adversary.

As Gohan and Kuririn suddenly remembered what Vegita had said about super Saiyans, they both turned to look at each other with open mouths and pale complexions. They had both arrived at the same conclusion, and thankfully enough, they would soon realize how correct they were. Freeza hadn't realized it yet, but in killing Bulma, he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: Shenlon Revives Porunga**

Bulma didn't know how she had gotten here, nor did she even know how long she had been here. The only thing she felt she could be certain of was that she was dead, and that she'd never seen anything like this. She was standing in the middle of a long line of puffy cloud-like things that extended all the way up to a large mansion far in the distance with a sign on it that said, "Well Come." Bulma was very puzzled. As near as she could tell, her body was just the same as it had ever been, with the exception of the weird halo above her head. No one else had his body, though. Everyone around her was just another white cloud traveling along in line. She wondered if that's really how it was, or if each individual perceived himself in his own body, while everyone else saw him as a cloud. She wondered if, to all the other souls around her - which is what she assumed these clouds to be - she looked like a fluffy, white cloud too.

She was still pondering this when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Uranai Baba, the old witch, floating there on her crystal ball. She was the sister of the turtle hermit, and she was the only non-god mortal who could travel freely between the living and nonliving realms. Although this was a position that ought to have commanded at least some respect from her, Bulma was like Goku in that she still referred to the witch as "Baba," or "old woman."

"Oh! Hi Baba!" Bulma cried, waving in greeting in her delight to see a face that didn't belong to a cloud. "Long time no see, huh? It must have been six years by now!"

"Bulma," she said, frowning at Bulma's rather familiar tone with her. "Do you know where you are?"

"Well, not really," Bulma admitted, shrugging and glancing around. "I can't quite figure out how I got here, either; I just appeared here, I guess. Where am I?"

"I'm afraid that there's no way to put this delicately, so I'll just have to say it outright. You're dead, Bulma," Baba told her, bowing her head as a gesture of respect to Bulma and her recently ended life. "I'm sorry to have to deliver such terrible news to you, but you've been killed by Freeza."

"Well, I kinda guessed that," Bulma laughed, pointing to the halo above her head. "I know _what_ I am, Baba; I just don't know _where_ I am. What is this place, and why am I here?"

"Oh yes, well..." Baba stammered, trying to regroup her thoughts. "What I mean is, you're in the underworld. Where you are right now is in a line of souls waiting to be passed on to either Heaven or Hell. You shouldn't be here."

"No one told me anything when I got here," Bulma said, looking as confused as she felt. "Where else is there to go?"

"I'm getting to that," Baba replied impatiently. "You may have noticed that you still have your body. Well, that's a rather rare occurrence in the land of the dead. As it turns out, Kami-sama requested that Enma-daio let you keep it."

"Oh, so I _am_ the only one in this line with a body!" Bulma exclaimed. "I was wondering about that. Kami sure does have a habit of doing this sort of thing, doesn't he? Goku had the same thing done to him, and so did Piccolo." She paused for a moment as Baba's words finally sunk in all the way. "Wait a minute; who's Enma-daio?"

"He's the judge of the underworld," Baba explained. "He decides who goes to Heaven, who goes to Hell, and for special cases like yours, who gets to go elsewhere. He wants to meet you, so follow me."

Baba floated up and over the wispy souls toward the entrance of the building ahead of them. Bulma found that she could still fly, so she followed her in. Once inside, she found herself in a big room, facing the largest man she had ever seen.

The large, red-skinned man stared attentively at her from over his enormous desk, and Bulma felt herself a little intimidated by him, to be perfectly honest. He was in a smart business suit, and his large, red face was framed by a neatly kempt head of black hair that looked as though it would be more appropriate in wild disarray than the trimmed, slicked back style it was in. poking out of the top were two short, yellow horns, giving him a very oni-like appearance, and making Bulma wonder why he wasn't clad in tiger stripes. All in all, he was a very striking man, and Bulma could easily see that he commanded a lot of power. Not only could she sense it in his chi, but she could also see it in the way he carried himself and went about his business.

"Hm, Briefs, Bulma!" he said thunderously, studying a little black book that said "who's who" on the cover. "You have quite a track record, young lady! Although you've got a few bad points against your record here, you've really cleaned up your act in the past few years. I could send you straight on through to Heaven, you know!"

"Heh-heh. Wow," Bulma laughed nervously, holding one arm behind her head. She wasn't quite sure which was the appropriate way to act before such a powerful entity as this one. "Hey, wait a minute!" she exclaimed, as a thought occurred to her, instantly driving away all thoughts of decorum. "Do you get to judge everyone who dies? Everyone in the universe?"

"Yes," Enma said, grinning at her. "That's the job description."

"Well, did you process a guy named Vegita recently?" she asked him.

"Ho boy, I remember him!" Enma chuckled. "Had quite a mouth on him, that one!"

"Yes, that's him," Bulma said, nodding eagerly. "I don't suppose you're allowed to tell me where he was sent, are you?" she asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt anything to tell you that," he said with an amused grin. "But first I need to tell you something else. Now, I'm supposed to inform you that Kami and Popo have been gathering the dragonballs to make a wish. They're going to wish that everyone killed by Freeza or his henchmen on Namek be brought back to life. They're hoping that this will bring Saichorou back to life too, since they're pretty certain that his life was cut short a little by his grief at having Freeza kill all his children. At any rate, once he's brought back to life, the dragon of Namek will be revived, and they'll still have one wish left. Kaiou-sama is going to tell Saichorou to tell Dende to make the wish, and that wish will be that all the people on Planet Namek, except Freeza, be transported to Earth. There. That's the plan. It's a bit tricky, but they think they can make it work."

He sighed as he sat back in his chair and tapped his massive pencil on the desk, sending thunderous booms echoing throughout the office. "I'm giving Kami a little help from my men to find the dragonballs before it's too late. It's not really my place to meddle in the affairs of the living, but Freeza has already sent billions of premature cases my way, and he's really getting on my nerves. I see no harm in nudging his paperwork forward a little more quickly!" He chuckled impishly and grinned at Bulma.

"But that makes no sense!" Bulma exclaimed. "Won't Freeza come after us? He knows where Earth is! Why just leave him on Namek?"

Enma frowned. "A lot of things have happened on Namek since you died, Bulma," he said gravely. "Goku's become incredibly powerful; powerful enough to defeat even Freeza. When Freeza realized this, he tried to blow up the planet. Fortunately, his attack wasn't quite strong enough to destroy Namek right away, but even so, it's still as good as gone. The planet has less than five minutes left before it explodes."

"Damn that Freeza!" Bulma exclaimed, balling her hands into fists and gritting her teeth angrily.

"Don't worry," Enma said with a wry smile. "He's already done that to himself."

Bulma almost smiled back. "So what am I here for?" she asked.

Enma-daio nodded at her and leaned forward again as he adopted a businesslike tone and expression. "Kami asked me to let you wait everything out at his lookout," he replied. "You'll be brought to life again too when Shenlon grants his wish, and I didn't see any point in sending you on the plane to Heaven either, considering you'd be alive again before the ride was over. I'll have Uranai Baba take you back to the living world and guide you to Karin Tower."

"Thank you," Bulma said, bowing respectfully. "I really appreciate your taking the time to fill me in, as I'm sure you're on a busy schedule. Still, I was hoping you might spare me just a little more time to answer my question from before. Since Freeza killed Vegita, he'll be brought back to life too, so where did you send him in the meantime?"

Enma grinned and let out a throaty chuckle. "I sent him to Hell to cool off for an hour or so," he replied. "That boy's got a real mean streak in him, and I figured a little taste of Hell might do his soul some good."

Bulma shook her head. She didn't really know what Hell was like, but she doubted that a couple hours of it would be enough to change Vegita all that much. Still, stranger things had happened, she supposed. She thanked Enma-daio again, and she then followed Baba out of the building through a side exit. Once they were outside, Baba stepped down off of her crystal ball.

"Now," she said, getting herself settled on her knees as she turned around and placed her hands on her crystal ball. "I want you to kneel and place your hands on the crystal ball, just like I've done. You need to make contact with me or the ball in order for you to accompany me on our journey to the living world."

"Will I be able to see the trip?" Bulma asked, doing as Baba had asked her, and staring interestedly at a blue man with a single horn on his head as he passed them and gawked at Bulma.

Baba shook her head. "No," she answered. "The journey is made instantaneously. What happens is that I cause space-time to fold over a bit, so I shorten the distance between where we are and where we want to go. It's not like your form of teleportation at all. That technique alone wouldn't guarantee you a successful journey of this nature anyway. You can't begin to imagine the enormous distance you would have to travel!"

"Oh," Bulma said. She halfway wondered if Baba had discovered this magic on her own, or if Enma-daio or Kami-sama had shown it to her.

"Now close your eyes and clear your mind," Baba said. "We're about to go through!"

Bulma did as she was told, and she suddenly felt a peculiar floating sensation. It ended as soon as it had started, however, and she soon found herself kneeling on solid ground again.

"You can open your eyes now," Baba said, pushing Bulma's hands off of her crystal ball so that she could sit on it again.

Bulma did so, and she found herself looking at the neat and tidy courtyard outside Kami's palace. She got up and glanced around. Kami and Mr. Popo were nowhere in sight.

"Kami and Popo are still out getting the last dragonball," Baba said, floating up into the air. "You should just wait here for them. They'll be back soon." She began to disappear as she floated away.

"Thanks, Baba!" Bulma called after her, waving goodbye.

Bulma, now alone, sighed and looked around. She wondered how long Kami and Popo would be.

She got her answer when they suddenly appeared on Popo's magic carpet. She'd never met Kami face to face before, but she knew him immediately, as she had seen enough Nameks by now to recognize one when she met one.

"Hello Bulma," Mr. Popo said, smiling at her. "It's good to see you again."

"Hello," she said, smiling and nodding at him. "It's good to see you again too, Mr. Popo." She turned her attention to Kami and gave him a respectful bow. "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Kami-sama. I only wish our first meeting had been under better circumstances."

Kami smiled. "I would have met you at Enma's, but Popo and I were in a bit of a panic. We've finally gathered all seven dragonballs, so before we exchange any more pleasantries, I must insist that we now call Shenlon while there is still time."

Bulma nodded, and Kami set the seven dragonballs in a group on the ground. They glowed brightly as they always did when they were brought together.

"Come forth, Shenlon, and grant our wish!" Kami cried, after they had all backed a safe distance away.

The sky began to turn black, and the dragonballs glowed intensely. Shenlon, in his energy stage, shot up from the pile of dragonballs and grew in size and length. Finally, he hung suspended in the air above them, coiled about in all his glory.

"Whatever your wish," he said in his low, rumbling voice. "Whatever it is, I will grant you, provided it be within my powers. What is your desire?"

"We wish that you restore life to all those who Freeza and his subordinates killed on Namek," Kami said loudly. "And I must ask you now, will this include Saichorou, the Namek elder?"

Shenlon's eyes narrowed. "Yes," he said finally. "But only for a very brief amount of time, o my creator - ten minutes at the most. His life was nearly over before Freeza ever arrived on his planet."

"That will have to be enough then," Kami sighed, nodding gravely. "I have given you my wish."

Shenlon's eyes shone red, and Bulma's halo suddenly disappeared. She felt up above her head where it had been, and Popo grinned at her. She smiled back. Although being dead admittedly hadn't been too bad, she was nevertheless glad to be alive again.

"My task is complete," Shenlon rumbled. "I bid you farewell!" With that he disappeared, and the dragonballs shot off in all directions.

"So now what do we do?" Bulma asked.

"Kaio-sama is conveying the plan to Saichorou as we speak," Kami replied, turning around to face her. "The rest is all out of our hands. I did want to talk to you about something though, Bulma. I was hoping I could ask a favor of you."

Bulma's eyes lit up with surprise, but she beamed almost immediately. "When a god asks you for a favor, it's bound to be important. I already owe you a lot for bringing me back to life, so believe me; whatever you want me to do, I will if I can. What do you need from me, Kami-sama?"

"Well," he began, turning away a bit and looking up at the sky. "Now that all the people from Namek have come back to life, they're going to need a place to live. Their planet is on the verge of exploding right under their feet. We're going to ask Porunga to bring them here, to Earth, and I was hoping that it wouldn't be too much of an imposition to ask you if you might be able to... well..."

"...invite them to come stay at my house?" Bulma finished for him with a smile.

"It would only be until we could relocate them to a more permanent home," Kami persisted, "but I must confess that it might be a while before that happens."

Bulma let escape a barely audible sigh of relief. She had been afraid that he'd ask her for something difficult, so she was glad that he had asked for this instead. "Kami," she began, "my family is the richest family in the world. I have absolutely no doubts that we could take in a hundred refugee Nameks, or even a thousand, for that matter. You have my word that for as long as they want to stay, they'll have a very comfortable home at the Capsule Corporation compound, and they'll want for nothing, too. The only thing I should warn you about is that they'll probably have to put up with a few absurd antics from my parents! Honestly, those two can and will find the most incredible ways to embarrass me, and I can't be held responsible for it if they try to teach some poor, unsuspecting Nameks how to conga or something."

Kami smiled. "Thank you, Bulma," he said, turning back around to face her again. "It means a lot to me to know that my people will be provided for."

"It's not as if they'd be much of a burden, you know," Bulma laughed, waving his thanks away with one hand. "The houses they'll need can be erected in less than a day, thanks to my Dad's capsules, and as for their food costs, I don't think I need to tell _you _how little that will be! Kuririn told me that all you guys consume is water. Now," she chuckled as a rather disturbing mental image crossed her mind, "if you had asked me to house a hundred or so Saiyans, I probably would have been a little less sure of myself. I know you've seen how Goku can eat, and I'd have to wonder if even the richest family in the world could afford to house and feed a hundred of him!"

They all laughed at that. Suddenly Bulma remembered something, and she frowned. "Say, what happened to Goku, anyway?" she asked. "Enma-daio said that he'd become stronger than Freeza! Was the boost he got from Dende's healing him really that big?"

"Goku has undergone a tremendous transformation, or so Kaio-sama tells me," Kami said. "He said he's become a Super Saiyan, whatever that means. He said that it was Goku's anger over your death that triggered the transformation."

"Whoa," Bulma said quietly. "Vegita tried so hard to become one, but he lost the battle to Goku yet again. If Goku's being one is enough to beat Freeza, it's no wonder Vegita wanted the transformation so badly."

"Kami, they're here!" Popo said excitedly. "They've appeared in a forest just on the other side of South City!"

"You might want to get going," Kami urged Bulma. "Vegita's been brought here too, and it won't be a good idea to leave them with him for long. As I understand it, they don't like him much."

"Right," Bulma said, grimacing and nodding in understanding. "Well, I guess I'm off then. Thanks for everything, Kami-sama! You too, Mr. Popo!" With a hasty wave at them, she ran to the edge of the tower before hopping off and zooming away toward South City at full speed. She couldn't wait for Kuririn, Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo to fill her in on the rest of the details!

It took her less than five minutes to reach her friends – she had teleported most of the way – and when she had finally located everybody, she found that they were all standing in a big clearing near the edge of the forest. Bulma was so happy to see Gohan and Kuririn that she didn't even notice the way that Vegita stared at her as she flew down among the group.

"Bulma!" Kuririn cried as she landed beside him and gave him a playful knock on the top of his head. "We were getting worried that you hadn't been brought back to life! Where on Earth have you been?!"

"At Kami's place," she replied, "or at least I have been since Baba brought me there while I was dead. It's a long story, and I'll tell it to you later." She looked around a little, but she didn't see Goku. "Where's Goku?" she asked. "Kami said he had become a Super Saiyan!"

"Woo, did he ever!" Kuririn said. "It was incredible!"

"Freeza made a big mistake when he killed you," Piccolo said quietly, "one that he's paying for right now."

"So I've heard," Bulma chuckled, grinning at him. "Where _is_ Goku, anyway? Didn't Porunga bring him back with the rest of you?"

"Goku wasn't done fighting Freeza," Kuririn said, lowering his eyes. "He chose to stay behind and finish him."

"What?!" Bulma gasped, covering her mouth in horror. "You... you mean that when Namek explodes..."

"Then your precious Kakkorot will be blown to bits along with it," Vegita interjected with a smug grin. "What a pity. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear of grief for that simpering idiot, but rubbish like him has no business being alive in the first place, after all."

Bulma turned around to shoot him a glare of contempt. "Well, I can see that the time Enma-daio made you spend in Hell didn't do anything to improve your tact, you big asshole," she snapped at him. "Freeza should never have killed you. It would've been better for everyone around here if you'd gotten blown up along with Goku."

Vegita shot her a wicked smirk and ignored the whispers of assent that hissed through the crowd of Nameks a few yards away from them. He seemed perfectly elated by the day's turn of events – not to mention the fact that his words had obviously ruffled her feathers – and it made Bulma so angry she could spit. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Gohan was glaring at him with an even more intolerant expression than hers.

"You just watch what you say about my father," he growled at Vegita. "I won't just stand here and let you insult him like that."

"Is that a threat?" Vegita jeered, grinning evilly at Gohan.

"It's a promise," Gohan said with a snarl.

"Will you two cut it out?" Bulma snapped at them, realizing that having a fight break out here wasn't going to get them anywhere, and would most likely result in Gohan's getting sent to the hospital again. "You're both acting like idiots! Vegita, you're an insufferable ass for celebrating Goku's death in front of his son! Gohan, you should know better than to give a damn what a lowlife like Vegita has to say! Quit being so stupid, or I'll knock you both silly!"

Neither one was paying any attention to her. "Why don't you make me stop?" Vegita said tauntingly to Gohan. "Or are you afraid to fight me, just like your coward father was?"

"My father was never afraid to fight you," Gohan snapped. "And neither am I! If you want me, then here I am! I'm gonna make you take back what you said, you stupid jerk!" He flew at Vegita then, and everyone jumped back to give them room.

"Ooh, I'm gonna clobber them both!" Bulma shrieked, charging her chi and preparing to teleport in and separate them. "You're a couple of twits, you two!"

"No," Piccolo said, grabbing her arm and shaking her out of her fury with his calm voice. "Let the boy have his way for now. He won't shut up if we don't let him get it out of his system, and Vegita is a better target for him than my ears. I say let him defend his father's honor if that's what he thinks needs to be done."

Bulma snorted angrily. "And here I thought you were the most sensible one of our bunch, Piccolo. Gohan isn't any kind of match for Vegita, and even if he was, having those two fight each other isn't going to accomplish a damn thing."

Piccolo didn't answer her. He was watching Gohan and Vegita, and naturally, Gohan was losing. He was a lot stronger and faster than he had been before, but so was Vegita, and the smug prince was landing quite a few more blows than Gohan was. Suddenly, Vegita smashed Gohan into a nearby tree, nearly succeeding in uprooting it. Gohan had been stunned, and he didn't get up right away.

"This is something you've learned all too late, my dear boy," Vegita chuckled through an evil grin, poising to attack. "I play for keeps!" He began to charge at him, but Piccolo suddenly shot in his path, causing Vegita to screech to a halt.

"Get out of my way," he growled at Piccolo. "The brat has this coming for challenging me."

"That's enough for now," Piccolo said quietly. "Maybe some other time you two can finish this, but not today. If you so much as lay a hand on him now, you'll have to deal with me."

"That may not be such a bad idea," Vegita remarked with a sneer.

"Okay, okay," Bulma snapped, stepping in between them and pushing them away from each other. "That's enough, already! We get the picture, all right, Vegita? You're not afraid to challenge anyone, no matter how much of an ass it makes you! Now back off, or so help me, I'll teleport you to straight to the coldest, darkest part of Antarctica! Do you hear me?"

He glared angrily at her, but she glared back at him just as fiercely. Then, to her utter surprise, he actually relented. "Fine," he growled, walking away and leaning up against a tree with his arms crossed. "I guess I should have expected as much from a planet of weaklings. I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you degenerates, anyway."

Bulma rolled her eyes and let out an angry sigh. Earth was definitely going to be less peaceful with Vegita around. After glaring angrily at the scowling Saiyan, she turned and walked over to Dende. "Hey, kid," she said, smiling at him. "What did I tell you? They're all here! I had no idea we'd get it done so soon, though. Kami had this planned all along!"

"Not _all_ of us are here," one of the older Nameks said, bowing his head sadly.

Bulma looked around. "You're right," she said, suddenly afraid she knew what had happened. "Where's Saichorou?"

"He... he died just before you got here," Dende said, sniffing a little, "but he told me to tell you thank you for all your help."

"He's dead already?" Bulma exclaimed, very much upset. "That's just terrible! I'm so sorry, everyone; Shenlon said he'd have at least a few more minutes, and we needed him to come back so that Porunga could grant the wish to send you all to safety. I'm so, so sorry that you all had to watch him die like that. I wish it hadn't happened that way."

"He was really happy," one of the older Nameks sighed, stepping forward and patting the sniffling Dende on the head. "He wanted everyone to know that, including you. He said that he wasn't afraid to die again, and I believed him. When he left us, he went with a smile. It was very heartbreaking to see him die, but at the same time, I'm glad he felt such peace and joy during his final moments."

Bulma would have thanked him for his kind words, but a familiar voice had just begun shouting in her brain, and it startled her so badly that she nearly fell over. "Bulma!" the voice cried. "Bulma, can you hear me? It's me, Yamucha!"

"Yamucha!" she gasped, clutching at her head and whirling around with a wild expression – which fairly surprised the Namek who had spoken to her. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, isn't it cool?" he laughed. "I'm talking to you telepathically through Kaio-sama!"

"Wow!" she cried. She beamed at the astonished onlookers. "It's Yamucha!" she cried. "He's speaking to me through Kaio-sama!" She beamed excitedly at them for a few more moments before walking off a little bit so that she could concentrate more on him. "Wow, Yamucha," she said softly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has," Yamucha replied. "I've missed you so much, Bulma! I really wish I could see you right now! There's so much I want to tell you."

"Well, you can start by telling me how much you've improved," she laughed, putting her hands on her hips. "If you even dare to come back to life without having any new techniques to show me, you have another thing coming!" She laughed again, but suddenly, a terrible realization occurred to her, and her laughter was cut short by a horrified gasp.

"No!" she cried. "Oh no! This can't be happening!"

"What's wrong?" Yamucha asked, sounding concerned.

"I just realized something," Bulma said, her face pale. "We can't wish any of you back! Kami used the dragonballs just today to wish all the people Freeza killed back to life! The dragonballs won't be back again for another year, but by then, it'll have been more than a year after your deaths, and the dragon won't revive someone who's been dead for more than a year! Oh Yamucha, this is terrible! What are we going to do?"

Yamucha laughed, surprising her very much indeed. "That's what I'm supposed to tell you. You don't need to use the Earth dragonballs to wish us back! The Namek dragonballs are right there under your noses!"

"What?" Bulma said. "The Namek dragonballs?"

"Yeah!" Yamucha cried. "There's three wishes, right? One for Tenshinhan, one for Chaozu, and of course, one for me! Isn't it great?"

Bulma almost let herself believe it, until she remembered one thing. "Yeah, but there's a problem," she groaned, feeling her spirit sinking painfully back into despair. "Saichorou's dead, Yamucha. Those dragonballs are gone."

"No they aren't," an elderly, portly Namek said, looking up. "Saichorou passed the responsibility of Namek elder on to me. When he did that, he also transferred Porunga's mortal link to me. The dragonballs are still in existence, but it will be 120 days before they're active again. You're welcome to use them," he said, smiling at her. "I'm sure none of us would object to that." All the Nameks nodded in agreement, smiling in unison. Bulma clasped her hands together and bowed in gratitude.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Yamucha. "It'll work after all!"

"Yeah!" Yamucha laughed. "Then we'll all be back together! Just like always!"

"Well, not all of us," Bulma replied, frowning a bit. "Goku's dead now too, but we can't wish him back yet. We'll have just enough time to make it for you guys alone. We'll wish you guys back first and get Goku on the second time around, I suppose. If," she added, smiling at the new Namek elder, "you wouldn't mind, that is?"

He smiled back. "We are at your service," he said simply. "You may use the dragonballs as often as you like."

"Well, that's all I was supposed to say, I guess," Yamucha said. Bulma could detect a hint of reluctance in his voice.

"Okay, Yamucha," she said. "Can I ask Kaio-sama something real quick before he closes me off?"

"He's nodding," Yamucha said. "Bye Bulma. I'll see you in a few months!"

"Goodbye Yamucha," she said, smiling. "I'll see to that."

"You want to know about Goku, don't you?" Kaio-sama boomed in her head. "I can sense it in your thoughts. Well, all I can tell is that Namek is completely obliterated. I can't sense a single living thing out there where it used to be. I'm assuming both he and Freeza are truly dead."

"Thanks, Kaio-sama," Bulma sighed, nodding. "That's what I wanted to know. Be sure to say hi to Chaozu and Tenshinhan for us, will you?"

"Don't worry; I will," he said, chuckling. "Goodbye, Bulma. Oh, and just so you know, if you ever wind up dead again, feel free to drop by. Any friend of Goku's is always welcome."

"Thanks," she laughed. "I'll do that. Bye, Kaio-sama!" She didn't hear anything else after that, so she figured he had cut off the connection. She sighed.

"So?" Kuririn asked. "What's up?"

Bulma filled them in on everything that they'd talked about. Everyone - with the obvious exception of Vegita - was really sad to hear about Goku's death, but they were still relieved that they had a chance of bringing him back later on. Of course, they were all glad to hear that Freeza was dead. Even Vegita gave a grunt of approval when she told them that.

"I'd really like to meet this Goku," Muuri, the new Namek elder said thoughtfully, "and you know that our dragonballs are at your disposal. I just wish there was more we could do for you. We owe you our lives."

"I wish you wouldn't think of it like that," Bulma said, frowning. "The whole reason we came to your planet was to ask for the use of your dragonballs, but just look at what happened! Over half of you had already been killed by Freeza when we got there! Did you ever wonder how he found out about your planet? Well, I'll tell you; it was from hearing about the dragonballs we had on our planet. Once ours were gone, he put two and two together, just like Vegita did. In a way, it's our fault that Freeza even went to your planet. Then, on top of all that, he went and destroyed the whole damn thing!"

Muuri shrugged. "It's likely that he would have come to take over our planet eventually, even without the knowledge of our dragonballs," he said. "At least this way the universe can be rid of him."

"Well, anyway, since your planet _is_ destroyed," Bulma continued. "Kami and I decided that you needed a place to live, so here it is: I want all of you to come live with me!"

The Nameks all shared a huge gasp of surprise. "No! We couldn't possibly impose such a great burden on you!" Muuri cried. "There are over a hundred of us!"

Bulma laughed. "Don't be silly!" she said, waving it away. "It'll be no burden on me at all, I can assure you! It just so happens that my family and I are the richest people on the planet! We could take in an entire metropolis if we had to. Besides, you guys are friends! You're welcome to stay for as long as you want!"

Muuri consulted the other elders on the matter for a few minutes. Finally, they seemed to have reached a consensus.

"We accept," Muuri said, smiling broadly, "with all the thanks we can ever give!"

Bulma smiled happily, but all at once her expression darkened as she realized that there was one more person who hadn't been addressed yet. "Oh yeah," she said, turning back toward Vegita. "I almost forgot. You don't have a place to stay either, do you? Well... I suppose you can come stay at the Capsule Corporation too, if you think you can behave yourself," she added uncertainly, studying him with a critical frown.

"Feh," he snorted, looking away from her. "What a fool thing to suggest! Why would I agree to do any such thing?"

Bulma felt her temper rising, but she punched it down and pushed it aside for now. Vegita was Vegita, and she shouldn't have expected anything less insulting from him. "I realize that we commoners must be dreadfully boring to a prince as exclusive and refined as yourself, but you might want to consider developing a bit of tolerance, at least for the time being," she said with an irritated shrug as she shook her head at him. "You won't find any better living conditions than you will with me. It'd be in your best interests to at least give it a trial run, Vegita. Still, it's your choice, of course. You do what you want; your well-being is definitely no concern of mine." She turned away from him and smiled warmly at Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan.

"I guess it's time we headed home," she said, waving goodbye. "I'll bet you can't wait to see your mom, Gohan!"

"Heh," he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "Yeah, but I'm not looking forward to telling her that I didn't do my homework like she asked."

"You've got to take the bad with the good, I guess," she chuckled, giving him a playful sock in the shoulder. "Say hi to the old pervert for me, would you, Kuririn?"

"Sure thing!" he said, floating up into the air. "Call me when the dragonballs are active again, and I'll come help you find 'em!"

"You've got it!" she cried as he flew off for the Kame house.

"Goodbye Piccolo," she said, saluting him and grinning. "I hope you'll grace us with your presence again soon. Don't try to take over the world right away, okay? I think we'd all like a vacation first."

Piccolo smirked. "Feh," he snorted. He looked down at Gohan. "You ready to go home, kid?"

Gohan just beamed at him. "Bye everybody!" he cried as they flew off. Bulma smiled as she watched them go. Those two really did look like they belonged to each other. Chichi wasn't going to like it, but it looked like Piccolo was going to play a big part in her son's life from now on.

Bulma turned around and smiled at her new houseguests. "Can you all fly?" she asked them. "My house is within flying distance from here."

Yes, we can all fly," Muuri replied, nodding. "Lead the way, Miss Bulma."

She took off and led the large flock of Nameks to her home: the Capsule Corporation compound. She winced as she couldn't help but wonder how her parents would choose to embarrass her when she introduced them.

As they flew over South City, Bulma suddenly sensed Vegita's chi behind them. Apparently he'd decided to lower his standards and come with them after all, the poor guy. She smiled, despite herself. She wasn't altogether thrilled that he'd be living nearby, but at least this way she could keep an eye on him. Setting him loose on the people of the world was definitely not the best idea. He wasn't exactly a people person, after all.

Bulma sighed and tried to forget about Vegita. She needed to figure out exactly what she was going to tell her parents. She had a lot of explaining to do, and she just knew that they weren't going to give her an easy time of it!


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: The Boys Come Back**

"Dad, I'm serious!" Bulma cried in exasperation. "I want you to help me build my own gravity room to train in! Come on, it'll only take us a week or so!"

Dr. Briefs laughed. "All right, sweetheart," he said, stepping away from the new hovercycle prototype he'd been tinkering with. "I'll help you. I guess I still can't get over the fact that you're even stronger than my robotic bodyguards. So what d'you think? Twenty g's be enough?"

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of one hundred," Bulma said, folding her arms. "I don't think it's humanly possible for me to go that high, but it'll give me a goal to keep working towards."

"You always did like to shoot for the impossible," Dr. Briefs chuckled, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. "Funny thing is, you usually succeed. I've got a good feeling you'll do great things for my company when I pass it on to you," he said thoughtfully.

Bulma sighed. "Dad, put that out," she said. "I wish you'd quit. You're going to kill yourself with those awful things."

"Better to die a happy man, Bulma m'dear!" he laughed heartily, slapping her lightly on the back. She just shook her head at him and unfolded her arms. He was hopeless.

"Say," he said suddenly, raising an eyebrow. "How are our guests doing? Do they like their new homes? Your mother and I stocked all their refrigerators full of the best bottled water money could buy. Are they getting along pretty well?"

"They say they're very comfortable," Bulma said with an undecided shrug, "but I think they miss their old homes a lot more than they let on. You know, I've been thinking, Dad. They said we could use the dragonballs to wish our friends back. The second time we'll use them to wish Goku back, and then we'll have two other wishes. How about if we used the other wishes to create a new home for them? We could ask the dragon to create a new planet Namek for them, and then we could wish them all there. Do you think they'd like that?"

"The only sure way to know is to ask them," Dr. Briefs replied with a smile, "but I have a feeling they'll like that very much. Just so you know, though, your mother and I both agree that we wouldn't mind having them here forever. They really are remarkable fellows. I only wish that we'd met them under less unfortunate circumstances."

"Yeah," Bulma agreed.

"By the way," Dr. Briefs said, leaning up against his cycle and finishing the last puff of his cigarette. "How's your Saiyan friend making out?"

"Damned if I know," Bulma said tersely, glaring at him. "He's not _my_ Saiyan friend, Dad. Anyway, he's holed himself up in his quarters right now. Every now and then he goes off to the desert to train, and he only comes back for food and a place to collapse for a day or so before he leaves again. At least he's not killing anyone; that's something, I guess. I hate to admit it, but the guy really gives me the creeps. I kind of like it better this way - with him gone most of the time."

Dr. Briefs laughed. "I don't know," he said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "Your mother's taken quite a shine to him. It's too bad you didn't bring back an exotic alien woman for me! Then we'd both be content!"

"God, you two are impossible!" Bulma exploded. "It's beyond embarrassing! It's obscene!"

Dr. Briefs laughed, obviously happy that he'd ruffled Bulma's feathers. "Oh, we're just having fun! Lighten up, honey!" he chuckled.

Bulma just growled and rolled her eyes. "Do you wanna get started or what?" she snapped impatiently. She unrolled the blueprints she'd been holding, and she spread them out on his desk. "I've drawn up some prelims on the building design, but you're the expert on gravity control, so I need your opinion on the strength of this design, as well as the construction of the machine itself..."

Thus began a five-day long project for Bulma and her father. It would have taken a lot longer, but the Nameks took a great interest in it, and they eagerly offered their help. Bulma decided that the past few weeks must have been pretty boring for them, so she asked her dad to think of something that might interest them and keep them occupied for a while. Being the practical person that he was, her father decided that they should try one of his favorite pastimes: golf. Surprisingly enough, though, most of the older Nameks really seemed to like it. Bulma laughed outright when she saw him leading them out to the links for the first time, because he'd made them dress up in those ridiculously goofy outfits he always wore when he went golfing. He assured them that the absurd garments vastly improved his skill, and would do the same for them. The saddest part was how fervently he really believed it, and how he got them to feel the same way.

The rest of the Nameks found other ways to amuse themselves. The children were taken out to the city almost every day by Mrs. Briefs. She just couldn't get enough of the "sweet little darlings." She took them to all kinds of different places, but their favorites were the amusement park, the zoo, and the botanical gardens. They were the most often visited, but Bulma's mother took them to all sorts of other places besides. It was a wonder they never developed a severe case of culture shock.

As for the rest of the Nameks, they were the most restless, and as a result, the most active. They kept themselves amused by sparring with each other all the time. Dr. Briefs had a huge gymnasium constructed for them after the gravity room was completed, and they loved it almost as much as the elders had grown to love the golf course.

Bulma enjoyed her time in her own personal gravity room very much indeed. She'd invited the Nameks to come train with her, but they kindly refused, saying that they preferred the gym. So instead, she trained alone. So far, the highest she could go was five g's, but she was determined to go much higher than that, so she trained hard every day. It was slow going though, and she didn't make it to ten until a whole month had elapsed. By the end of the next month, she'd only gotten up to fourteen.

In the meantime, Vegita kept up his routine of disappearing for a week or so and then only showing up for a few days to crash. Bulma was terribly afraid that while he was there, he and the Nameks would get into a fight, but remarkably, he kept to himself, so there weren't any real problems at all. For the most part, Bulma avoided him. He still really creeped her out, and she didn't really have much to say to him anyway.

Thus things continued for the next month or so, with Bulma training in her gravity room and making slow but steady progress. She had to hand it to Goku. Mastering one hundred g's in less than a week had been some feat. Bulma was so exhausted at the end of each day that sometimes she didn't even make it to her bed before she collapsed.

The days flew by, though, and sure enough, it wasn't long before Muuri came to inform her one morning that the dragonballs had just become active again. It was time for the great dragonball hunt to begin! Bulma called up Kuririn, and he, along with their Namek friends, helped to find the seven orange spheres. Bulma had built some two dozen radars in anticipation of the event, and they split up into teams of four and five, each equipped with their own dragon radar. Thanks to the organized way that they carried out their search, it only took them three days to locate all the balls and bring them together to the Capsule Corporation compound.

On the day that they were to call Porunga, everyone - except Vegita - was there for the big event. Kuririn and Muten Roshi had made the trip over, and Puar and Oolong had come too. Piccolo had made a surprise appearance, much to the delight of Dende and the other Nameks, and even Gohan was there, having been given special permission from Chichi to take time off from his studies long enough to come welcome the returning warriors with the others. Everybody was very excited and very eager to get started.

"You'll have to tell me what you want me to say," Muuri said as they all stepped back away from the group of dragonballs. "Porunga only grants wishes in our tongue."

Bulma stared in surprise at Dende, who giggled at her. "Dende, you little scamp!" she exclaimed in fluent Namek. "Why didn't you tell him I could speak your language?"

"I thought it would be funny to see the look on his face," Dende laughed.

All the rest of the Nameks, especially Muuri, gaped at her in astonishment. Piccolo did his best to hide a smirk. The Nail in him must have found this just as amusing as Dende did.

"You don't mind if I make the wishes, do you, Muuri?" Bulma said politely, smiling apologetically at him.

"Why no!" Muuri said, still quite taken aback. "But how do you...?"

"I'll tell you later," Bulma laughed, sticking her tongue out at Dende, who did the same back to her. "I hope you're not angry."

Muuri looked first at her, and then at Dende, and then he laughed boisterously. "Will wonders never cease?!" he exclaimed, chuckling and shaking his head. "Angry indeed!"

Bulma just smiled. She had already learned long ago that Muuri's sense of humor was very healthy, and his tolerance for Dende's impish antics was legendary. Saichorou had made a wise decision in making him the new leader. "Thank you," she told him with a grin. "Okay, everybody, here we go!" she cried, raising her hands out over the dragonballs. She'd waited so long to make these wishes!

"Takkarato po Porunga pupiritto paro!" she called out, grinning at the astonishment that was still lingering on the other Nameks' faces. The dragonballs glowed brightly for a few seconds before they erupted with energy as Porunga shot up and out of them. Within seconds, he was towering over them in all his glory.

"Now that's a dragon!" Piccolo breathed in amazement. Bulma laughed at him. She couldn't help it. Maybe Nail had less of an effect on Piccolo than she thought.

"Greetings, mortals," Porunga rumbled at them. "I will grant thee the first three wishes asked of me, and no more. What are thy requests?"

Bulma knew exactly what she wanted to say. She'd already learned from their mistake on Namek that she needed to be very specific. She grinned at Kuririn and then looked up at Porunga. "Our first wish," she said in loud, clear Namekian, "is for you to resurrect Chaozu and bring him here to us!"

"A simple matter," Porunga said, his eyes flashing red. Suddenly Chaozu popped out of thin air and landed on the ground in front of them.

"Wow!" he cried upon seeing Porunga. "Oh my goodness!"

"What is thy next request?" Porunga asked.

"O Porunga!" Bulma cried. "Our next wish is for you to resurrect Tenshinhan and bring him here as well!"

Porunga's eyes narrowed. "A simple matter," he rumbled, and his eyes flashed again. Suddenly Tenshinhan appeared next to Chaozu, and they looked at each other in surprise.

"That was fast!" he cried, smiling excitedly at Chaozu. He then looked up at Porunga and did a double take. He was just as impressed by the size of the great dragon as Chaozu was.

"You have one wish remaining," Porunga said restlessly. "What is thy last request?"

"Finally, O Porunga," Bulma said, closing her eyes in anticipation. "We ask that you please resurrect Yamucha and bring him here."

"A simple matter," Porunga said again, and once again his eyes shone red.

Just as the others had done before him, Yamucha appeared before them and marveled at the massive dragon. He glanced over at Bulma and his expression softened. "It's really good to be back," he said, smiling at her affectionately.

"My task is done," Porunga rumbled. "I bid thee farewell!" With that, he disappeared, leaving only the ring of dragonballs high in the air, which suddenly flew off in all directions.

"It's good to see all of you back!" Bulma exclaimed, choking up a little. "I'm really sorry that it took us so long to wish you back to life!"

"That's okay, Bulma!" Chaozu said cheerfully. "We had lots of fun at Kaio-sama's!"

"Some things we couldn't help but miss, though," Yamucha added quietly, gazing at Bulma with a soft, contemplative smile. Bulma blushed a little, and she turned away from him. He was making her uncomfortable.

"Yamucha!" Puar cried suddenly, flying forward and tackling him. "Oh, Yamucha, I've missed you so much!"

Yamucha laughed and hugged Puar tenderly. "I missed you too, Puar. I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"I'm just so glad you're back," she cried, sobbing. "Don't ever leave me again!"

That night there was a big party at the Capsule Corporation in honor of the revived heroes. Everyone was in a good mood, including Piccolo, who remarkably stayed for the fun. Everything was running smoothly until somebody unexpected showed up.

"What the Hell?!" Yamucha exclaimed all of the sudden, rising quickly from his seat.

"What's the matter?" Bulma said. She was on the other side of the table, and he was staring angrily at something past her. She turned around to see what he was staring at. So did everyone else.

"It's Vegita!" Tenshinhan said, getting up too. "What's he doing here?!"

"Oh, him," Bulma said disinterestedly, turning back around as Vegita went into his quarters after shooting a quick glare at them. "He's living with us, more or less," she explained, shrugging. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you sooner. I know you guys must not think too much of him, since he's the reason you all died."

Yamucha scowled angrily at the small Capsule house that Vegita had disappeared into. "Would you guys mind if I crashed here for a while, Bulma?" he said, looking back at her and sitting down. "I don't have any money yet, and I'm pretty sure that my landlord has cancelled my lease by now."

Bulma laughed. "I'll bet he'd jump at any chance to toss you out anyway," she chuckled. "Sure, we have plenty of room, Yamucha. At least now maybe I can have a sparring partner in the gravity room!"

Yamucha grinned at her briefly, but he returned to scowling at Vegita's place. Bulma sighed. She could tell that those two probably weren't going to get along.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Yamucha's Confession**

Bulma stepped out of the gravity room for some fresh air and a cold drink. She wiped most of the sweat off of her face with her arm and took a long swig from a bottle of water. She'd been at it for only an hour or so, but she'd been going at twenty G's, so she was definitely ready for a break. She sighed. Yamucha had been pretty sulky last night. Vegita hadn't left his quarters since he went in, and Yamucha had spent most of the morning in his own room with Puar. Bulma wished he'd stop sulking and get out here. No one was going to be kicking Vegita out of here anytime soon, so he might as well get used to it.

Suddenly the door to Vegita's little capsule house swung open, and the gruff Saiyan stepped out into the warm, late-morning breeze and looked up at the sky. His spiky tufts of hair swayed a bit in the wafting air, and he would have made a striking figure indeed, if you could have ignored the fact that he was a pompous ass, that is. He looked well rested at least, Bulma mused to herself. He must not have overdone it too much on his last training excursion.

He must have noticed Bulma's standing outside the gravity room out of the corner of his eye, because he turned a bit to look at her. As usual, his quiet staring made her uncomfortable, but Bulma sent him a half-hearted wave nonetheless. There was no reason to be rude, after all. Vegita may have been obnoxious, but at least he'd been behaving himself admirably lately. He nodded back at her before flying off. Off to train some more, she supposed. Yawning and stretching her tired limbs, Bulma set out for Yamucha's house. She wasn't about to let him spend the whole day sulking; that was for sure!

"Yamucha!" she called loudly, banging on his door. "Get out of there, you lazy bum! Just because I'm letting you stay here for free doesn't mean you can spend all the day locked up in there!"

"I'm coming!" came a muffled cry from inside. Bulma could hear loud footsteps, and she giggled as she heard the large crash and the angry curse that followed. He must have trashed the place already. If that wasn't typical Yamucha behavior, she didn't know what was!

He flung open the door with such force that he nearly fell outside. Bulma grinned at him. What a goof!

"Are you gonna hide in there all day, or are you going to come spar with me?" Bulma demanded, trying to keep a straight face as she noticed what he was wearing: a pair of blue teddy bear boxers and one sock. That was all. On top of that, his hair was sticking up all over the place. He must have just come from bed.

Yamucha yawned. "Okay," he said groggily. "Let me go get dressed. I'll meet you at the gravity room in ten minutes, all right?"

"Okay," Bulma replied in a cracking voice as she began to lose her composure. "Love your boxers, Yamucha!" she called back as she turned around to leave, doing her best to stifle the giggles that were bursting to come out.

Yamucha looked down at himself and turned crimson. He then slammed the door shut and went running through the house again. Once again, Bulma heard a familiar crash followed by more loud, angry curses. "Poor Yamucha," Bulma thought with a happy grin. It sure was good to have him back. She'd really missed the goofy guy.

Bulma walked back to the gravity room. When she got there she found that her dad was inside, checking the equipment.

"You're being awfully rough on this stuff," he commented, getting up and clamping the control panel down again. "How far have you gotten?"

"Twenty g's is my max," she replied, sitting on one of the small benches along the wall, "but I usually go at seventeen. Twenty's still a little too strong for long periods of time."

Dr. Briefs nodded. "Well, when you get done today, I'm going to have to come in and make some adjustments. You've thrown the calibration off a few degrees."

"Okay," she said, nodding at him as he left. She sighed and closed her eyes. She hoped Yamucha would go easy on her. She was pretty worn out from her solo workout from earlier, and she had no doubt that he had far surpassed her in ability by now, so if he didn't take it easy, she might not enjoy this workout as much as she'd like.

It was more like twenty minutes before Yamucha finally arrived, but he did look a lot neater, and he'd even taken a shower. Seeing him had recharged her batteries, and she was brimming with energy. She couldn't wait to get started.

"What would you like me to set the machine for?" she asked as he shut the door behind him. "I can go at twenty, but I'm more comfortable at seventeen."

"Well, let's try twenty," Yamucha said with a devious grin. "I promise I won't go too hard on you."

"Okay," Bulma laughed, turning on the machine. "I don't think I'll offer you much of a challenge," she said, turning around and striking a defensive stance. She immediately did a double take. Yamucha was kind of hunched over, and his face was strangely contorted. It looked a lot like he was having trouble standing up!

"Maybe we should start at ten and work our way up," he laughed, sticking his tongue out. Bulma nearly fell over in surprise.

"I don't understand!" she cried as she regained her balance. "Can you move at all?"

"Yes," he said, jumping up in the air and hovering a bit. He fired off some fast kicks before flopping down to the ground onto his hands and knees. "Damn!" he said. "This is brutal!"

Bulma gave a relieved chuckle. "Well, it looks like you're not too much better than I am after all, I guess," she said. "I would have imagined that training at Kaio-sama's would have made you a lot stronger than this, though."

"Yeah, well, I did train hard," Yamucha said, shrugging at her after he had righted himself, "but the gravity there was only ten times as strong as Earth's. I got pretty used to it after a while, but this is twice as much, and it's not as easy. I guess I'll just have to work harder."

"Ah well," Bulma said, waving it away. "It's not so bad. Thanks to the boost I got from Saichorou, I guess I'm at about the same level of strength you're at right now. I can't do much more than what you did in gravity this strong yet. I'm working on it, though. Do you want me to turn it down a little for today?"

"Yeah," Yamucha said with an apologetic grin. "How 'bout fifteen instead?"

"That's fine with me," she said, smiling brightly. She punched the number on the control panel, and everything immediately became five g's lighter. "Better?" she asked him.

"Much," he replied with a vigorous nod. "I'm ready!"

"All right!" she exclaimed, striking her defensive stance again. "So am I!"

Bulma started them off with a perfect lunge and a hard right kick, and Yamucha countered well with a tiger block and a strong jab to the ribs. The following hour continued in much the same way - with simple moves rather than difficult ones. Anything else would have worn them out too quickly. Still, Bulma had already had a grueling workout that morning, and Yamucha wasn't used to such intense gravity. It was no surprise that they were both ready to take a break only an hour later.

"Hey Bulma," Yamucha said, interrupting the tranquility as they relaxed atop the dome of the gravity building afterward. "You wanna go for a walk? I need to talk to you about something, if that's okay."

Bulma sat up and looked at him. "Really?" she said, the curiosity as plain as day in her voice. "Well, okay then. We could go to the park in the city."

"All right," Yamucha said, nodding and getting up. "That's sounds great."

They flew off for the city, and in a matter of minutes, they were walking through the park. Bulma glanced at Yamucha's face. He had a strangely contemplative look about him, as if he were deep in thought. It was odd to see such a look on Yamucha, and it puzzled her. He sure was acting strangely all of the sudden. Since when did he need to take a walk to talk to her anyway? She figured she'd humor him just this once, though. Yamucha could be a bit strange sometimes. She supposed he was in one of his rare philosophical moods or something.

They walked over to a large elm tree, and they sat down in the cool shade to relax. "So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Bulma asked, resting back on her hands and smiling at him. "Is something bothering you, Yamucha?"

Yamucha sighed, and he stared earnestly at her. "Bulma," he began, looking at her in much the same way that he had when he had first been brought back. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you for months, and now that I finally have the opportunity to say it, I'm not even sure that I'll be able to find the right words. I'm damn well going to try, though!"

His voice had become disturbingly harsh, as though his emotions were hindering his capacity for speech. He took a deep breath and a few seconds to calm down a little before he continued. "Bulma," he said, grasping one of her hands and locking her eyes with his. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I got to Kaio-sama's planet. You're all I _can_ think about nowadays. I've come to the realization that I just can't live without you, Bulma! Dammit, I couldn't even handle being dead without you!"

It was as if a nuclear bomb had just been dropped on Bulma's emotions. She gaped at Yamucha in dumbfounded silence, her face quickly beginning to lose all its color. She couldn't believe this was happening! Yamucha wasn't supposed to feel this way; they just didn't work together, and even he had seen that before. What could have changed his mind like this, and just how serious was he about it all?

Yamucha gently gripped her shoulders and turned her upper body around so that she was facing him. He looked her squarely in the eyes and continued. "I love you, Bulma," he said, his voice quiet but steady. "I love you more now than I ever thought I did, and I can't stand the thought of having to live without you any more."

He then pulled her toward him to kiss her, but she closed her eyes and turned her head away. "Please don't," she begged as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Yamucha, please."

Yamucha stared at her in shock, mortified by her reaction. What had he done wrong? "I don't understand," he said, his voice neither quiet nor steady now. "What's wrong? Don't you feel the same way?"

Bulma shut her eyes more tightly and grit her teeth. "I... yes... no... Oh God, I don't know how I feel!" she wailed, tearing away from him and jumping up into the air. "Would you just... just please leave me alone!" she yelled at him, her face twisted with anguish. "I- I just can't deal with this!" With that, she rocketed into the sky and flew as fast as she could for home. She just had to get away from him; she knew that if she looked him in the face again her heart would be torn to pieces.

Bulma flew high in the sky, sobbing loudly and covering her face with her hands. How could Yamucha do this to her? She wasn't even remotely ready to think about dating again right now, much less a man she knew she was all wrong for! What she needed was a good friend, not a boyfriend. She still had that uneasy feeling whenever a man looked at her cross-eyed, and even if he was Yamucha, she didn't feel any less uncomfortable. Sure, it was upsetting to feel this way, but that didn't mean she could just ignore it. Bulma struggled to stifle her sobs as she angrily rubbed her eyes dry on the backs of her hands. What was she getting mad at him for, anyway? It's not like all this was his fault; he couldn't help feeling the way he did. He'd poured his heart out to her, and she'd screamed in his face for it. If anyone deserved to be angry, he did.

Bulma sighed irritably as she landed outside the kitchen door to her house. She was so damn confused. She needed to talk to someone, and she could only think of one person to whom she would be willing to bring this kind of problem.

"Mom?" Bulma called as she came into the kitchen. "Are you here?"

"In here, Bulma honey!" Mrs. Briefs called back. She was in the living room. Bulma walked in and found her mother sitting in her favorite chair with a book.

"Why, Bulma!" she cried when she saw her red, puffy face. "You've been crying! What's the matter dear?"

Bulma sighed, plopped down on the couch, and buried her face in her hands. "Everything's a mess, Mom," she said in a tired voice. "I don't want to worry with it now, though. I have to ask you a question first."

Mrs. Briefs nodded and came over so she could sit by Bulma. "Shoot," she said, smiling brightly at her.

Bulma gave her a rather weak smile in return. "I was just wondering," she said, looking down at her feet uncomfortably. "How did you know that Dad was the right man for you?"

Mrs. Briefs was fairly taken aback for a couple of seconds, but suddenly she laughed good-naturedly and smiled at Bulma. "You know, I never realized it before, but you've never asked me that, have you? Do you know how your father and I met?"

"No!" Bulma said in surprise, looking up at her with sudden interest. "I guess I don't! I've never asked you or Dad about that before!"

"Well, that's a long story," Mrs. Briefs replied, leaning back and getting herself settled. "A very long story indeed."

"I'd like to hear it, if you wouldn't mind telling me," Bulma said, watching her mother eagerly. "I can't even imagine Dad's ever being without you!"

"Well, he was, of course, before I met him," Mrs. Briefs said, laughing gaily. "He was a mess, too, Bulma! I met your father when he was just one of the lesser employees of a small technology firm in the city. At first I didn't really notice him, because I was always busy. I was a secretary for one of the highest paid men in the company when your father began working for us, but that job didn't last too long for me. My boss wanted me to, shall we say, 'work after hours' with him, and I turned him down flat. Back in those days, a woman who was in my situation was usually out of luck, because there really weren't many laws to protect us from harassment and such, so it was no surprise to me to find out the next day that I'd been transferred to another department, and at a large pay cut, I might add. I was glad to be rid of the manipulative jerk anyway, so it really wasn't all that bad.

"At any rate, I was transferred to your father's department as a general secretary for a whole office of workers. Your father was one of them, and he was the only one who didn't come to visit me right away. I didn't know it at the time, but your dad was a very shy man around women in general, and to make things worse, he had developed a debilitating crush on me the very moment he saw me!"

"Aw!" Bulma exclaimed. "How sweet!"

"Exactly," Mrs. Briefs giggled, "but like I said, I didn't know. Anyway, it had been a full two weeks before he worked up the nerve to come talk to me, and my, was he a mess! His face was red all over, and he kept getting his words all mixed up, but he was absolutely adorable just the same. I just couldn't help but see how cute he was, all bumbling and fumbling like that! Anyway, after we talked for a little bit, I did something that he really hadn't expected. I asked him if he'd like to have dinner at my apartment that night. I don't think I need to tell you what his answer was!"

"Mom!" Bulma cried, aghast. "Don't tell me that you guys... after you had just met!" She was too embarrassed to say what she was thinking, but it was easy to tell what she had meant. Mrs. Briefs laughed loudly, resting a hand on Bulma's shoulder as she doubled over and tried to keep herself from falling onto the floor.

"Oh Bulma, don't be ridiculous!" she laughed, wiping a tear or two from her eyes as she finally managed to compose herself. "I asked him to dinner; that's all! Just because I wanted to cook it at my place didn't mean I was inviting him to sleep with me or anything! Honestly, you jump to conclusions too quickly, honey!"

"Er... sorry," Bulma said, still quite red. "Hey, wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "Dad said you couldn't cook before you guys were married! You invited him over for _dinner_?"

"Well, I wasn't really thinking, dear," Mrs. Briefs chuckled with a shrug. "I just didn't want him to take me out to dinner. He didn't have much money at all back then, you know. This was before he invented capsules, so he was practically destitute! I figured that I could save him the expense if I made him dinner, and besides, I thought it might flatter him more if I arranged it so that I was fixing the meal, and not letting someone else do it. In my warped little mind it just seemed more personal that way."

Bulma laughed. "That's not warped at all, Mom," she giggled. "I think it's great!"

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Briefs said, beaming happily. "I'm glad you think so."

"Oh, but Mom!" Bulma laughed. "Dad must have had some second thoughts about you after that meal!"

"Well, I don't know if he did or not," she replied with a smart wink, "because he acted like it was the best meal he had ever eaten. Your father was a very good actor, I suppose."

"Wow," Bulma said. "Did you guys go on many dates?"

"Yes, quite a few," Mrs. Briefs replied, nodding, "but we hardly ever went out to expensive places. Although he insisted on taking me sometimes, your father was really quite poor back then, and I ended up spending a lot of the money myself, whenever I thought I could get away with it. I didn't care. Before long, I had fallen for your father completely, and I would have spent any sum if it meant I'd be able to spend time with him. Your dad was a bumbling genius, even back then, Bulma, but he was the most charming and funny person I'd ever met, and on top of that, he always treated me like I was some kind of untouchable goddess. He was always so full of disbelief that I actually had the same feelings for him that he had for me, and it was very flattering, I must say! It's a wonder my head never got too big for me to walk through doors!" She laughed happily, and her cheeks were a rosy pink.

Bulma let out a dreamy sigh. "So when did you two decide you wanted to get married?" she asked.

"It was only a few months after we'd met, and we were back at my apartment again when it happened. Your father was choking down another one of my horrid dinners, and doing a marvelous job of it, I might add. I apologized left and right for it; I couldn't even eat it myself, it was so bad. Your father just laughed, and he leaned across the table and took my hand in his. 'I'd marry you in a second if it meant I'd get to eat your cooking every day,' he said to me. It was kind of meant as a joke, so I laughed and followed suit. 'And I'd marry you in a heartbeat for your money,' I told him. But then he got this really serious look on his face, and he took hold of my other hand. My heart raced at what he said next: 'would you really?'"

Mrs. Briefs got this faraway look in her eyes, and she smiled serenely. "How could I ever have said no to him?" she said softly. "He meant more to me than any anyone, and I knew at once that he was the only man I'd ever be able to give my life to. I asked him to stay with me that night, and every other night afterward. Oh, what a memorable night that was! That was my first time..."

"You mean," Bulma said in awe, "that Dad was the only one you ever...?" She cut her sentence short at the reproachful look her mother gave her.

"He certainly was," she said firmly. "Do you really find it that hard to believe?"

Bulma laughed. "Sorry!" she said. "I guess I'm just a little shocked that you never... you know... before Dad." She was blushing in embarrassment, but her mother smiled at her kindly.

"I know," she said. "I just never thought enough of any other man before your father. That's a sacred act of love and commitment, Bulma. I never believed that any of my former boyfriends would respect it as I did. Your father did, and he still does. Oh, he has his trashy magazine collection, of course. That's one habit I've not been able to break him of. I suppose I am a bit too flirty around handsome men, but you know what? Neither of us would ever follow through with those vices, given the chance. I suspect your father would probably run like a scared rabbit if any one of the girls in those magazines happened to ever meet him and make a pass at him, and my flirting is all in good fun. I do it to tease your father, mostly. It's kind of my way of getting back at him for his stash of girlie mags. Anyway, if one of the men I happened to flirt with ever decided to take me seriously, I'd probably smack him in the face. I am a married woman, after all," she said indignantly, "and they all ought to know that I'm not being serious."

Bulma laughed. "So I guess it wasn't too hard for you to decide that Dad was the one, huh?" she asked. "You guys got married pretty soon, but you sure sounded certain."

"Well, yes, that's true," Mrs. Briefs concluded, thinking for a moment. "After that night all my doubts had vanished. Anyway, I suppose the best advice I can offer you, Bulma, is that if you're unsure if a man's the right one for you, you have two options. You can either dump him right there and save you both the heartache of hanging on to a dying relationship, or you can give him some more time to grow on you. If you've been with someone for a good length of time - say a few years, for example - and if you think you know all there is to know about him, you may not want to wait some more to make your decision. All I can say is that when you do find the right man, sooner or later you'll know for sure that he's the one. It may take some time, but eventually, you'll know."

Bulma sighed. "That's what I figured you'd say," she said morosely. "I'd already pretty much decided about him, I guess, but I wasn't sure I was making the right choice."

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "You're talking about Yamucha, aren't you?" she asked softly.

"I just don't think he's the one, Mom!" Bulma exclaimed. "I mean, we were together for so long, and after all this time, I still have so many doubts about him that I can't really see myself ever getting serious with him again! What am I going to do? I thought we'd resolved this before he died, but now that he's back again, he's already asked me to take him back. It just doesn't feel right, though! What should I do, Mom? For the first time in my life, I'm just all out of ideas!" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "I just... can't... handle this!"

"Oh, now, Bulma dear, don't cry!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed, wrapping her arms protectively around her daughter. "Please try not to get so worked up about this! I know it's hard, but you have to be strong!"

Bulma fell silent for a moment, but then she felt the overwhelming urge to laugh, and when she tried, it came out as a hiccup. She leaned away and wiped her eyes dry. Then she took a long, shaky breath to steady her breathing. "I'm sorry," she said shakily. "I just realized how weird it sounded for you to tell _me_ to be strong!"

They looked at each other for a second, and then both women suddenly burst out laughing. It was a rather funny thought, after all.

"I'm sorry Mom," Bulma said again, wiping the last of her tears from her red eyes. "It's just that Yamucha's got me so stressed out about this. I have no idea what I should do anymore."

Mrs. Briefs looked down thoughtfully. "You know," she said softly, "I didn't want to say this, because it's not my place to say it, but I think you're really in need of an outside opinion here, so I'll tell you. Bulma, I honestly don't think that you and Yamucha belong together." She looked back up at Bulma, who looked back in surprise. "I think he's a wonderful man; there's no doubt about that, and there's no denying that he has a kind heart, but I know you, Bulma, and I know him, too. I can tell that he's not what you need. I won't tell you why I think this; that would be unfair to the both of you. I've probably said too much anyway. But the bottom line is this, Bulma: when it comes down to it, what I think shouldn't even play a minor part in your decision. It's up to you to decide, and I have every confidence that you'll eventually find the answer you're searching for within yourself. Whether it proves me right or wrong is neither relevant nor important. I just pray that you wind up happy with the answer you discover."

Bulma wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tightly, like she used to when she was little. "Mom, you're the best," she sighed as Mrs. Briefs patted her tenderly on the back. "Why do you know so much about things like this?"

Mrs. Briefs smiled mysteriously. "I'm your mother," she chuckled. "It's my job to know this stuff."

Bulma laughed and sat back. Somehow, her mother had always been the one to comfort her and give her good advice when she was growing up, and although she didn't rely on her as much these days, she had never totally broken away from her, and she was always glad of that.

"I don't know if I should tell you this either," Mrs. Briefs said suddenly, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. "I mean, it's not as if you don't have enough to worry about. I just thought I might mention that there's another man who has his eye on you."

Bulma gaped at her mother in much the same way she might have if she'd said they were all moving out west to become slug farmers. "You're kidding," she said, very unenthusiastically.

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "No I'm not!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I'm totally serious. Whether he realizes it yet or not, he's completely smitten already!"

"I suppose you think that'll make me feel better," Bulma chuckled wryly. "So tell me. Who's the _un_-lucky guy?"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Mrs. Briefs laughed, wagging her finger reprovingly at her daughter and getting up. "That wouldn't be fair either. You're just going to have to handle this one on your own too. Don't worry; I think you'll be all right. You're tougher than you look, after all!" She skittered off into the kitchen, laughing gleefully as she ducked away from the pillow Bulma had hurled at her.

"Thanks a heap!" Bulma called after her, but she was grinning anyway. She wasn't really angry with her mom. It was hard to stay angry with her mother, even if she was just a tad obnoxious at times. What she had said had really messed with her thinking, though. She still didn't even know how to handle the whole Yamucha situation! She certainly didn't want to waste any time or thought on any new love prospects right now, and whoever this guy was that her mom was referring to had better just stay the hell away from her! Bulma sighed angrily. She was tired of beating her brains over this. She needed to vent her frustrations somehow. Finally, she got up and walked out of the house. She'd take it out on the gravity room. A nice, exhausting workout was just the thing for relieving stress.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: Unrequited Love Sucks**

Over the next few days, Bulma spent most of her time training fiercely in the gravity room and mulling her problem with Yamucha over and over in her mind. Yamucha, on the other hand, did his best to avoid her. Either he could sense that she really needed some time to think, or he was just afraid of what might happen if he did try to talk to her again. Bulma couldn't tell which it was, but she did kind of prefer it this way. She really did need some time alone to think about this, and having him hovering around her certainly wouldn't help to hurry this along.

It wasn't until the morning of the fourth day - the same morning that she managed to last for a whole hour in 28 g's - that Bulma finally made her decision. Yamucha was kind and thoughtful, and he really was truly wonderful... but her mother had been right. Bulma honestly couldn't see herself spending the rest of her life with him. It wasn't really the fact that Yamucha was a fickle man - although that certainly didn't help. It was just that, deep down in her heart, Bulma knew that she would be able to live without him if she had to, and she was fairly certain that it just wouldn't be the case if he was truly the one she was meant for. Bulma sighed as she switched off the gravity machine. So that was it. She had finally made up her mind. Now, how on Earth was she going to explain it to Yamucha?

Sighing again, she turned around and walked toward the door to leave. She didn't get the chance to leave, however, because when she opened the door, there was Yamucha, looking more pitiful and forlorn than Bulma had ever seen him before.

"Can I come in?" he begged. "Please! I need to talk to you so badly, Bulma!"

Bulma shook her head wearily and smiled. "Sure," she said. "I need to talk to you anyway. I suppose now's as good a time as any."

Yamucha looked really worried then, but he came in, and Bulma closed the door behind them. She motioned for him to sit on the bench up against the wall, and he did so, while she followed and sat down next to him.

"Do you want to go first?" Bulma offered. Yamucha looked up hopefully.

"Do you think it'll change your mind?" he asked.

Bulma sighed and shook her head. She never could hide anything from him. Then again, she wasn't exactly being subtle with her feelings right now.

"I don't think so," she said, taking his hand and patting it affectionately.

Yamucha nodded, looking down again. He looked pretty sad, but he was being remarkably calm, she thought to herself.

"I'm sorry," she said, squeezing his hand. "I'm sorry if I ever led you on. I'm sorry for all those fights we had while we were going out. Yamucha, I'm sorry for everything!"

"Everything?" he asked dully, not even looking up at her.

Bulma tried to keep a firm hold on her emotions. She felt very close to breaking out into tears.

"No," she said, looking down at his hand, still in her lap. "Not really everything."

Yamucha looked up at her. He noticed the pained expression on her face and he looked down again. Damn. He didn't know if he could take very much of this.

"I'm not sorry for sharing my first kiss with you," she said, smiling bravely at him. "I'm not sorry for all the happy times we had together. And I'm not sorry that I... I fell in love with you."

Yamucha looked up again, this time to see steady streams of tears dripping down the sides of her face. He felt like crying a little himself, just looking at her.

"To be honest, Yamucha," she said, her voice wavering a little. "The only thing I'm truly sorry for is hurting you."

That did it. Every bit of Yamucha's strength and composure left him all at once, and he buried his face in his hands as he broke out into sobs of heartache. He just couldn't take it anymore. "Oh, Bulma!" he cried, not even caring what she thought of him for acting like this. "How could this happen to us?! We were perfect for each other! If you love me so much, then how can you reject me like this?"

"I do love you, Yamucha," she said gently, squeezing his hand tightly with both of hers, "but it's not the kind of love that you deserve. It's not the kind that you need for me to be a good match for you. I love you so much, Yamucha. But it's just not enough."

Yamucha laughed then, and he glared angrily up at her. "How do you know?" he snapped. "You think you know everything about me? Well, do you have any idea how much I'd give for you to change your mind? Huh? God dammit, Bulma! I can't live without you! Can't you understand that?"

Bulma winced. Yamucha was really hurt. What could she possibly say to make this easier for him? She couldn't bear to see him like this.

Suddenly Yamucha's expression softened, and he groaned as he buried his face in his hands again. "I'm sorry, Bulma," he said wearily, shaking his head. "I didn't mean it like that. I know you're not trying to hurt me, but I just can't stand this!"

Bulma just smiled softly at him. "You did have a point," she said. "I suppose I didn't break it to you gently enough."

"Nah," Yamucha said, shaking his head. He sat up then, and he leaned dejectedly up against the wall. "You were probably a bit too gentle. You shoulda smacked me for talking to you like that."

Bulma let his hand go and he folded them behind his head. She sighed again and leaned up against the wall alongside him. "I wouldn't have ever thought of such a thing," she said firmly. "You have every right to feel hurt by this."

Yamucha shook his head and slouched on the bench. "Well, I guess that's it then," he said with a dejected shrug. "I suppose this is goodbye, huh?"

Bulma looked up in alarm. "What?" she said. "You mean... you're leaving?"

"But, I thought that you... " Yamucha began, looking back at her.

"That I was kicking you out?!" Bulma said, looking hurt. "No way! I meant what I said, Yamucha! You're welcome here! Besides," she added, looking down again. "You're my best friend. I don't want you to leave. I certainly wouldn't force you out!"

Yamucha smiled. What kind of twisted kindness was this? She didn't want to shut him out of her life forever, but she'd never be his girl again, huh? It hurt like hell, finally finding out where he stood. He wasn't sure if he could handle being around her knowing that she'd never be his. Still, he also wasn't sure if it would be such a great idea to leave her alone just yet, either. He still clung to a small thread of hope that she might change her mind, and just as importantly, there were certain _people_ around here who couldn't be trusted. Maybe it'd be better if he stuck around, at least for a little while. It would hurt, but he'd died once before, right? What would it matter if he died again, even if it was only the emotional part of him, and not his entire body?

Bulma wiped her eyes dry with her fingers, and she sniffled a bit. When she looked back up into Yamucha's face, she realized at once that everything was going to be all right, at least after a little time. He was smiling at her, and she just knew it was a smile of genuine friendship. She wouldn't have traded Yamucha for the world.

He cracked a grin. "Puar's gonna kill me," he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "She'll think I messed us up or something."

Bulma smiled. "I'm sorry, Yamucha," she said again. "I guess it was never meant to be."

"Well, I can't say I'm happy about it," Yamucha sighed, standing up, "but I guess I'll be able to live with it after a while. At least we can still be friends."

"That's right," Bulma said, smiling warmly at him. She was grateful he was still willing to give her that. She hadn't been sure that he would.

"Well," Yamucha said, grinning playfully. "Now that I know where I stand, I guess I can see other girls, huh?"

Bulma laughed. "Oh, come on, Yamucha!" she giggled. "Like being with me ever stopped you before!"

He laughed. "Yeah, but you checked out the other guys too, you know!" he teased, smiling devilishly at her.

"Yeah, but I was never really serious. Anyway, those days are over. I've got other things on my mind these days besides men."

Yamucha frowned. "That reminds me of another thing I needed to talk to you about," he said, sitting down next to her again. "I wanted to talk to you about Vegita."

"What about him?" Bulma asked.

"I don't think you should let him stay here," he replied, scowling at her. "I really don't think he's as harmless as you guys make him out to be."

"Oh Yamucha!" Bulma laughed. "The day I call Vegita harmless is the day I give up training for good! I'd never call him that! You have to admit though, he's been behaving himself pretty well since he got here. I'm hoping that he'll settle down and make his home here, where I can keep an eye on him and I know there'll be no danger of his blowing up a city full of people. I'll agree that he's very dangerous, but I'd much rather have him here than out in public with a bunch of people who don't know any better not to tick him off. Don't you think that's a good idea?"

"I don't think letting him stay on this planet is a good idea," Yamucha growled. "The man's a killer, Bulma! I'm telling you, if you lower your guard around him for a second, he's bound to turn on you!"

Bulma sighed. "Look," she said. "Try to look at it from his perspective. He has nowhere else to go. Freeza destroyed his planet, his people, and even his pride." Bulma couldn't believe she was actually defending Vegita. It felt very strange indeed. "Besides," she added, "I think he's changed. He's been a lot calmer since he came here, and he hasn't fought with anyone since the day he arrived with us on Earth. I say just let him be. It's not like we could do anything if we had to fight him anyway. He gets stronger and stronger every time he comes back from those training excursions of his. If he ever did try something, we'd be hard pressed to do anything to stop him, so let's not provoke him, okay? Let's just leave him alone. He's ignored us so far, and I guess he prefers that we ignore him."

Yamucha sighed. He knew better. He'd seen the way Vegita had been staring at Bulma lately. He seemed a bit too interested in her to be accused of ignoring anything. He had some kind of awful plan cooking, and Yamucha just knew that Bulma was going to be the one to suffer from it. All the same, he also knew Bulma well enough to tell that there was no point in talking to her about it now. He'd just have to keep an eye on Vegita from now on.

"Okay then," Yamucha said, yawning. "I guess we'll leave it at that then. Well, I've gotta go. I've got a job interview today, and I need to get ready."

"Really?" Bulma asked eagerly. "What kind of work is it?"

"Construction," Yamucha said, winking at her. "I put in my application yesterday, and so far all they know about me is my work history. I'm sure they can't tell much from it, but at least they'll look at my baseball record. From that, they'll most likely assume that I'm in pretty good shape. I guess I'll just have to show 'em how useful I can be, huh?"

"That sounds just right for a brawny nincompoop like you," Bulma laughed at him. "Does it pay well?"

"It will when I'm through demonstrating my skills," he said, flexing a bicep ostentatiously. "They'll beg me to work for them after I show 'em I can lift a two ton girder with my bare hands!"

Bulma just shook her head. "You're such a showoff," she giggled. "I hope they give you the nastiest, filthiest job they have. That'll teach you!"

Yamucha laughed. "We'll see," he said. "Bye Bulma!"

"Bye!" she said, waving at him as he left. Poor Yamucha. She really hoped he was going to be all right with this. She didn't regret her decision, but if he wound up having a lot of trouble getting over it, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to forgive herself.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Misappropriation of Resources**

The next morning, right after breakfast, Bulma went straight out to the gravity room for a morning workout. She particularly enjoyed her morning exercises, and today she wanted the physical release very badly. Yesterday had been a very trying day.

She wondered if Yamucha would want to train with her today. He hadn't been in much of a good mood either, given that his interview yesterday had been a total disaster. His would-be boss had been totally afraid of him, and he had decided that he didn't want to work with someone who could lift an entire car with one hand. Of course, Yamucha, being the hothead he was, had just gotten angry and broken the poor guy's desk in half. Bulma had rushed over when Yamucha'd told her over the phone what had happened. She had bought a new desk for the foreman, and she had somehow managed to talk him out of suing Yamucha for what he had considered a threat to his personal safety. Naturally, Yamucha still wasn't in the best of moods. Bulma figured he wouldn't want to do much with her today. He was still brooding at home about the whole affair. Oh well. Maybe he'd find a better way to make a living before long. She knew that he didn't like mooching off of her like this; he was too independent and prideful to live off of a woman, even if it was her.

When she arrived outside her the gravity building, she found - much to her surprise - that the door was locked. Someone was already in there! She peered through the window on the door, and she gasped out loud at what she saw. Vegita was in there, and he had the machine on at 50 g's. He was doing some simple push-ups, and he looked pretty strained indeed. Bulma growled as she ran over to the vidcam console on the other side of the building. That jerk was in for an earful and an eyeful!

"Hey!" she yelled when the screen came on and both parties could hear and see each other. "Get the hell outta my gravity room, you creep! I never gave you permission to use it, did I?"

Vegita got to his feet and grinned broadly at the screen above him. She looked like she'd awakened in a nice, foul mood today, and he was more than willing to add to her displeasure.

"Do I need your permission to be here?" he asked innocently, crossing his arms and smirking shamelessly at her.

"Yes, dammit!" Bulma spat at him. "This is _my_ training room, you got that? I built it, and my father and I designed the thing! I don't want you in there messing it up!"

Vegita snorted. "Well, that's too bad for you then, isn't it?" he said, sneering at her. "I'm not leaving until I'm good and ready, so you can just stay out there and run that fool mouth of yours hoarse for all I care."

Bulma got really mad at that. "Oh yeah?" she snapped, her chi flaring up a bit. "You'd better watch yourself, pal! It won't be good for your health to make me really angry!"

Vegita laughed loudly. "Ooh, now I'm terrified!" he jeered, grinning broadly at her. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Ooh!" Bulma shrieked angrily. "Fine! Stay in there, you jerk! You've gotta come out of there sometime, Vegita, and when you do, you'd better just watch your back!" With that, she slammed her palm down on the power switch so hard that she broke the console. Cursing angrily, she stomped out to the other side of the building and hopped up onto the roof above the door. When the cretin finally did come out, she'd be ready for him!

So she waited - if not patiently, then angrily - for Vegita to make his exit. She remained motionless for hours, seething with anger as she envisioned all the humiliating, painful things she was going to do to that jerk when he finally did get his sorry butt out of her gravity room. She couldn't believe he had done this, and to think - after all the nice things she'd said about him yesterday, too! Bulma was so angry that she didn't even notice Yamucha when he flew up behind her.

"Hey Bulma!" he greeted her, sitting down next to her and nearly scaring her half to death. "What're you doing up here?"

Bulma scowled. Yamucha would probably try to talk her out of this, but she was too angry to care how reckless she was being, so she lied to him. "I'm practicing my meditation," she said, closing her eyes. "I'm finding it hard to focus today."

"Oh," Yamucha said, smiling. "I see. Well, would you mind if I used the gravity room? I've gotta work hard if I'm going to catch up to you."

Bulma didn't even smile at his compliment. "Not unless you think you can persuade Vegita to leave," she said curtly. "He's been in there all morning."

"You're kidding!" Yamucha cried, peering down the front of the building. "What's he doing in there?"

"Training, I suppose," Bulma snapped.

Yamucha noticed the waspish tone of Bulma's voice and mistook it for frustration at not being able to concentrate. He grinned. Bulma always had taken her training pretty seriously.

"Oh well," he said, rising to leave. "I suppose I'll take Puar to the amusement park then. Your mom's taking the Namek kids there today anyway. I'll see you later on tonight, Bulma!"

Bulma sort of grunted a reply and gave a quick nod, and Yamucha flew off for his place. She sighed as she heard him whistle softly on his way. Yamucha seemed back to normal already. He always did have an elastic personality. She was glad he wasn't moping around or acting all depressed about their discussion yesterday.

Bulma didn't move once all afternoon. She simply remained at her post, watching and waiting. She could sense Vegita in there, and she figured that she could wait just as long as he could. In fact, the longer he stayed in there, the better, as far as she was concerned. The more he wore himself out in her gravity room, the weaker he'd be, and the more easily she'd be able to teach him a lesson.

Bulma was still up there even when the sun had begun to set, and remarkably, her anger hadn't cooled down much even by then. The fact that she hadn't eaten or drank anything since breakfast didn't help to calm her down, either. If anything, it made her disposition much worse. It was all his fault, as far as she was concerned, and she was about ready to kill him. The fact that he was far more capable of killing her never really occurred to her. Of course, she didn't really want to kill him anyway. She just wanted to beat the ever-loving tar out of him.

Finally, just as the first stars began to show themselves in the sky, the door to the gravity room swung open, and out stepped Vegita. He walked out a few paces and paused to dab at his face with the white towel that was hanging around his neck. Bulma silently crept down the curved roof of the building until she was in the perfect position to strike. She'd waited all day for this. Of course, she couldn't see Vegita's face from where she was, so she was quite unaware of the smirk that was tugging at one corner of his mouth. He wasn't stupid; he could sense her up there behind him, and he knew full well what she was up to. He gave no indication that he was aware of her presence, however. He simply began to walk toward his small capsule house, giving her all the time in the world to make whatever laughable attack she had in mind.

With all the stealth of a jungle cat, Bulma leapt down at Vegita and dove into his back, tackling him to the ground. They rolled over each other a couple of times before Bulma shoved him to the ground and pinned him onto his back. Snarling viciously, she drew back her right fist to punch him in the face.

"If you think I'm just going to roll over onto my back and let you push me around, then you've got another thing coming, you Saiyan asshole!" she growled, punching him squarely in the nose. It was then that she noticed that Vegita was grinning at her. Even after that hit, when a bit of blood trickled out of one of his nostrils, he was still grinning.

"What's so damn funny?!" she yelled, slapping him across the side of his face as her chi flared brilliantly. "I'm ready to kill you, you know that?"

Vegita laughed then, and with a surprising boost of strength that he hadn't displayed when she had attacked him, he kicked her up into the air with a simple flick of one of his legs. Bulma did an awkward somersault as she sailed over his head, and she landed roughly on her back just behind him. She didn't even have time to sit up before he had followed her over in a neat backward handspring. He came down on top of her and pinned her neatly by restraining her wrists with his hands, and her knees with his shins. She was undeniably caught.

Bulma howled furiously and tried to wiggle out of his vise-like grip, but it was no use. He was too strong for her, and she couldn't even move her arms or legs. Suddenly she came to the belated conclusion that she had made a big mistake. Once again her temper had gotten her into trouble. She considered hollering for help, but almost immediately decided against it. There wasn't anyone around but her father, and Vegita could kill him much more easily than he could kill her. Besides, she wasn't about to give the bastard the satisfaction of knowing that she had begun to regret her actions, so she just clamped her mouth shut and glared contemptuously at Vegita's smug, triumphant face.

Vegita chuckled. "What was that you were saying before?" he asked, sneering at her. "I thought you were going to kill me! Well? I'm waiting!"

Bulma bared her teeth at him. God she hated this man! She had nothing to say to him that wouldn't result in his laughing at her, however, so she maintained her silence as best as she could through the vicious growls and grunts she made as she struggled against him some more. He had to let go of her sometime, and when he did, she was going to really let him have it!

Vegita edged his knees forward and crammed her arms to her sides. In a quick, neat little maneuver, he jammed each knee up against her elbows, pinning her arms tightly to her sides and freeing her legs just enough to make her kick violently at him, but not quite enough to reach him. As Bulma shrieked and cursed at him, struggling like a rabid animal, Vegita crossed his arms and stared smugly down at her. "You've improved quite a bit," he complimented her, chuckling as she called him a very nasty, unladylike name, "but you seem to have forgotten that I've been training too. I intend to surpass Kakarrot before you fools wish him back, and I'm well on my way. So you see, it's only fair to warn you that a little nothing like you wouldn't last five minutes in a real fight with me. Now, aren't you sorry you challenged me?"

Bulma just snarled at him. Of course she was scared; she hated being at anyone's mercy, especially Vegita's, but she wasn't about to say what he wanted to hear. All of the sudden, she wished she'd never invited him to stay with her and her family. Perhaps Yamucha had been right after all.

"What's the matter?" Vegita gloated. "For once that big mouth of yours has nothing to say, is that it?"

Bulma scowled at him. "I detest you," she hissed, "and I don't care how much stronger than I am you are. I'm going to rip you to pieces as soon as you get your sorry ass off of me!"

Vegita laughed a very amused laugh. "Oh really?" he said, grinning fiendishly. "Then perhaps I shouldn't let you up just yet. I am rather comfortable, and more importantly, I'd certainly hate to be ripped to pieces. That sounds simply terrifying!"

Bulma became thoroughly enraged by his jeering taunts, but for once, she reined in her fury. It wouldn't do her any good at all to rage and spit insults at him; she had to try to keep her cool so that she could be ready for any opportunity to strike back. She'd get him, but she'd have to get out of this predicament first.

"You can't stay there forever," she growled softly.

"No, I suppose not," Vegita agreed with a thoughtful scratch of his chin. "Of course, I could always resort to knocking you unconscious before getting up. That ought to ensure that you couldn't exact your sure-to-be-painful vengeance upon me, wouldn't you say?"

"Coward!" she hissed at him, her chi blasting a few pieces of grass away from them, even in its restrained fury.

Vegita flashed her a grin. "On the other hand, that wouldn't be very amusing, would it?" he continued. "I must admit, I am interested to see just how you _would_ attempt to maim me beyond recognition. I'm sure that pitiful lunge you made earlier can't be the best you have to offer."

Bulma didn't reply. She just scowled at him and waited to see what he would do. Sooner or later, he was going to get off of her and give her another shot at him. His pride wouldn't allow him to take her any more seriously than that, and she knew that as soon as he got up, he'd be done for. She wasn't wholly without her talents, and his underestimation of her was sure to be his undoing.

Vegita didn't say anything else for a few moments. He was looking down at her thoughtfully over his crossed arms, and the smirk on his face had faded a little. He made Bulma very uncomfortable indeed, or at least more so, if that were possible. She hated it when he stared at her like this. She began to wonder just what he was planning to do with her. He wouldn't dare kill her in her own home, would he? No, she knew better than that; he wasn't about to kill her now. He was enjoying himself at her expense far too much for something so drastic.

Finally, Vegita seemed satisfied enough with his initial conquest, and without a word he leapt straight up into the air and flew off to one side, all the while never uncrossing his arms. "Very well then," he chuckled as Bulma scrambled to her feet. "Go ahead and satisfy my curiosity. I'm ready whenever you are."

Bulma paused for a moment, trying to procure some degree of focus. She knew she'd need it. She didn't hesitate long, though. She launched herself at Vegita with perfect form and speed, and they began exchanging blows. To be more precise, she was punching and Vegita was blocking. Vegita didn't make a single offensive move all throughout her onslaught, which only made Bulma all the more angry with him.

She knew that he was just toying with her, but she didn't care. She was going to land a hit if it killed her. She was thoroughly winded, however, considering how hungry and thirsty she was, not to mention how stiff her limbs were from sitting in the same place all day. She continued regardless, and it wasn't long before she was utterly drenched with her own sweat. The only moisture on Vegita's skin, however, were the little flecks of sweat that Bulma's furious efforts had flung at him. Even after a grueling workout in fifty g's, he was still far beyond any level she could ever hope for. It was sickening.

It was easy to see that he was really taking great pleasure in her frustrations. Judging from that amused grin on his face, he actually looked like he was having fun! The expression on his insufferable face was enough to drive Bulma crazy, and she wanted more than anything else in the world to wipe it clean with a good, solid hit. The fact that she wasn't breaking through his rock hard defense, however, left it intact every time she tried. To say that she was getting frustrated was a severe understatement. Her exhaustion was finally catching up with her. She was quite visibly slowing down.

Vegita laughed at her. "Don't tell me you're getting tired already!" he cried, jumping back just out of her reach again. "This is pathetic! Even a Saiyan baby would be more nimble and powerful than you!"

Panting heavily, Bulma shakily drew herself into a defensive position. Perhaps she needed to rethink her strategy. She didn't want to try chi blasts on him, because they took too much precious energy - energy that she didn't have right now. Besides, she didn't fancy finding out what firing off a bunch of explosive blasts in the middle of the Capsule Corp. compound could do to her friends and family. She had tried normal combat techniques, but he was too fast and powerful for them to be effective. All she had left was teleportation. She could be guaranteed of at least one - maybe two, if she was lucky - surprise shots with that.

It was the only way she could see herself even touching him, but unfortunately, it would not only drain the remaining energy right out of her like a sponge, but it would probably also make Vegita good and mad. She grinned angrily. What else did she have left to lose? The jerk had already damaged her pride beyond repair, and she was so tired now that it wouldn't really make much difference if he did decide to get serious. The first hit would probably take her out anyway, for crying out loud. What the hell. At least she'd have the pleasure of wiping that smirk off his face.

"Oh?" he jeered at her as he saw the angry grin spread across her face. "Does the little mouse have a plan of some kind? Goodness, I should be wary of you now, shouldn't I?"

It took nearly all her remaining strength, but Bulma managed to stop time, and she sailed at Vegita, her fist aimed straight for his smirking mouth. She lost her control before she hit, however, and time resumed its course just before her fist made contact, its impact point slightly to the right of her intended target. It had been enough, however. She had caught him off guard just enough to land her punch and send him stumbling backward.

Vegita regained his balance quickly, and he stared in astonishment at Bulma as she landed with a thud on her stomach on the ground in front of him. She'd underestimated how much energy that move would take, and it had all but knocked her unconscious after it was over. She was too exhausted to move a muscle, so she simply remained where she was on the ground, motionless except for her heavy breathing. She didn't care what happened now. She had gotten one hit in. Out of all the furious attempts she'd made, she'd only gotten him once, and that was only after teleportation. She was so sick of it all. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget Vegita even existed. Damn that Saiyan jerk. To Hell with him. It wasn't even worth it anymore.

Vegita touched his cheek where Bulma had hit him. In the morning, there might possibly be a slight bruise there. He smirked. She definitely had guts, even if she _was_ short enough on brains to think that she could take him on. He hadn't gotten much of a workout of course, but he'd gained a strange kind of enjoyment from this little skirmish nevertheless. There was something so incredibly satisfying in antagonizing this temperamental woman. Oddly enough, provoking her gave him more pleasure than even killing his enemies. It was very strange indeed.

He looked down at her and noticed the slow, steady rise and fall of her back. She'd gone to sleep already. He chuckled, realizing that she'd given him everything she'd had. She certainly had been determined to win. Oh well; too bad for her. She should have realized long ago that she had never been his equal, and she never would be in the future, either. She was sure to be mad tomorrow, but at least she'd know who was really in charge around here from now on. Smirking devilishly, he bent over and picked her up off the ground. Snorting derisively at the exhausted, limp woman in his arms, he sauntered off with her to the Briefs household.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41: Defeating Vegita**

When Bulma awoke the next morning, it felt so much to her like every other morning that at first, she didn't even remember what had happened last night. Yawning, she stretched and climbed out of bed, and it was then that she noticed that she was still wearing her gi and boots. Suddenly all the events of the previous night came flooding back to her, and she looked about frantically, trying to remember how she had come to be here. Why was she in her room, and what had happened to Vegita? She couldn't remember anything beyond that last punch she'd landed on Vegita at the end. Dazed and very much confused, she went and took a shower in the bathroom down the hall before dressing in clean clothes and walking downstairs to the kitchen. Her stomach was growling heartily, and she decided she'd take care of some breakfast before going out to investigate.

"Good morning, Bulma dear!" Mrs. Briefs cried as Bulma walked into the kitchen. "You certainly slept in late this morning!"

"Yeah," Bulma said with a shrug. "I guess I wore myself out training last night."

"That's what Vegita said too," Mrs. Briefs agreed, putting some coffee on.

"Huh?" Bulma said, her head darting up. "What was that about Vegita? When was this?"

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "I'm not surprised you don't remember," she chuckled. "You were out cold! Anyway, Vegita brought you in at a quarter to ten last night. He said you two had been sparring and that you had gone a little too far. It was really touching, Bulma. He carried you all the way up to your room and put you right to bed! I really like that Vegita. He's such a sweet boy. Don't you think so?"

Bulma was practically shaking in astonishment. "Er... yeah. Sweet." she mumbled, making a face at the foul taste of the words before forcing herself to smile. "I'll have to thank him later." Oh, she'd thank him all right!

"Oh, I hope you do!" Mrs. Briefs giggled. "I wish a big strong man like that would come and carry _me_ up to bed!"

"_Mom_!" Bulma screeched, turning every shade of red and quickly rising from her chair.

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Oh come on," she giggled. "A girl can dream, can't she? Your father would never be able to do that. He's sore for a month every time I make him lift anything heavier than a chair!" Laughing, Mrs. Briefs left the room, leaving Bulma to herself and her thoughts. Suddenly she didn't feel all that hungry anymore. She didn't even want to begin to figure out why Vegita had bothered to bring her back home. He should have just left her out there. On second thought, though, he must have figured it'd be more embarrassing to her if she had to wake up and hear about his victory from her own mother. Growling, she got up and went out the door. Maybe she should go for a walk to clear her mind.

As she walked past Yamucha's Capsule house, she paused. Should she tell him what had happened last night? It wasn't really as if Vegita had _done_ anything to her, after all. Of course, Yamucha wouldn't see it that way. He'd probably start talking about kicking Vegita out again, and even though Bulma was thoroughly upset with Vegita, not to mention somewhat disturbed by his actions after their fight, common sense told her that he really could have hurt her if he'd wanted, so maybe she should just let it go. Oh well. She sighed and shook her head as she moved on. Maybe a long, tiring workout would help her to vent her frustrations.

When she got to her gravity building, it felt like déjà vu. Vegita had locked himself inside, once again without her permission! Bulma groaned loudly and gave the door a harsh kick. It looked like she'd lost her gravity room. Suddenly, her face brightened as an idea hit her. Why not build him one of his own? Then everyone would be happy, and he might even disappear entirely in his training! What a great idea! Bulma grinned. Of course, she'd have to ask him about his preferences, but after that, it would only be a matter of putting the thing together and getting him situated right away. It would probably take her a week to get the thing built, assuming her dad would help her, but once she moved him in there, he'd be out of her hair for good!

Bulma skipped merrily back to the house for a nice, big breakfast. Vegita ought to be in there all day, so she was certain she had plenty of time to waste before she proposed the idea to him. She loved being a genius!

Bulma spent most of the day drawing up the blueprints for Vegita's gravity building. She figured he'd want a higher tolerance level, since he was going through the g's so rapidly, so she configured it to withstand two hundred-fifty. That ought to be more than enough, but she knew better than to rely on common sense on this one. Knowing that egomaniac, he'd probably want more. She was going to have to ask him about it, because the integrity of the building was important as the g's went higher and higher.

When the sun had gone down completely below the horizon, Bulma tucked her plans under her arm and trotted out to the gravity building. She was brimming with excitement and fervor. She had the perfect plan, and she was dying to set it in motion. All she needed was the go-ahead from the jerk, and she could take the idea to her father.

She flew up to the roof of her gravity building - after making sure Vegita was still in there - and she sat down patiently to wait for him. Sure enough, in one of the late hours of the evening, Vegita emerged from the building. He was tired but he was alert. He could sense Bulma up there behind him, and he wasn't entirely certain that she wasn't going to try to attack him again. Although, truth be told, part of him hoped she would. He'd certainly get a kick out of humiliating her a second time.

Instead of tackling him, though, Bulma hopped silently over and in front of him, with her plans tucked neatly under one arm. Clearing her throat, she began her proposal.

"I have a proposition for you, Vegita," she said, grinning confidently at him, "one that I'm sure will leave us both satisfied. Now, you seem to have taken a liking to gravity training. Well, so have I. This is my machine, and I want you away from it, so instead of fighting with you about it, I've decided to build you one of your own. Interested?"

"Go on," Vegita said, smirking and folding his arms. He had to admit, he liked the way this was going.

Bulma smiled triumphantly. "All I need to begin construction is for you to tell me how high you want the machine to go. I'll need that information when I design the building itself, so that I can be sure to make it strong enough to withstand the pressure. Mine only goes to one hundred, you know. Goku mastered that level in less than a week, and I figured you'd probably go beyond that not too far in the future, considering how rapidly you're improving."

Vegita nodded, scowling slightly. "I want three times as much," he said coolly. "If Kakarrot could do one hundred in a week, then I can do three hundred in two."

Bulma gaped at him in disbelief for a few moments, but then she laughed nervously. "Three hundred g's in two weeks. Sure you could," she said, rolling her eyes. "Okay then. I'll design this thing for a maximum of three hundred-fifty, just in case, all right? Just keep in mind, Vegita, that I'm not going to be held responsible if you get squished flat!" With that, she flew off for the workshop to draw in the alterations she'd need. Vegita glowed in triumph as he watched her leave. Her actions had been proof positive that things went your way when you showed the world who was boss.

The next day, Bulma enlisted the help of her father in her quest to rid herself of Vegita. Of course, Dr. Briefs was rather short with her for asking him for a whole new gravity room, despite the fact that he was a multi-billionaire, and such a building was by no means beyond his capability. To him, the cost wasn't the issue; it was the principle of the thing.

"You're being frivolous, dear!" he exclaimed when she proposed the idea to him. "Why should we build another one when the one you have works splendidly?"

"Because," she said with an exasperated sigh, "I don't want Vegita using mine anymore. He ties it up for the whole day, and he's way too harsh on the equipment. Besides, he's already reached sixty g's, and he's still going strong! He wants his to run at least up to three hundred, and I'm all for giving it to him. At the very least it'll keep him out of trouble," she said, frowning and crossing her arms. "If he has something to concentrate on, he'll spend less time causing problems around here."

Dr. Briefs shrugged. "Oh, all right," he sighed angrily, "but you'd better be willing to share yours with Yamucha, because I'm not building him one. Two is more than enough for you hyperactive kids!"

Bulma giggled and hugged him around the neck. "Thanks Daddy," she said, kissing him on the cheek and laughing as she saw him practically melt with fatherly love. "You're the best!"

"And don't you ever forget it!" he laughed back, tousling her hair. "Now show me those plans you've drawn up. This one's going to be a little more difficult than the last one; I can guarantee it!"

Soon after, they had finished all the necessary modifications to the plans Bulma had drawn up, and within hours they were ready to begin construction. When Bulma informed Yamucha of her plan to occupy Vegita's time, he was all for it, and he even offered to help.

"Shoot yeah!" he exclaimed when she told him. "This is a great idea! He might even destroy himself in gravity like that!"

"Don't be silly!" Bulma laughed. "I don't want him dead, Yamucha. I just want him out of my gravity room and out of my life. That guy's just gotten too creepy to ignore."

Yamucha sent her a quizzical look, but when she didn't elaborate, he just shrugged and offered to help. Bulma put him to work lifting and holding in position the large metal and cement panels they used to line the outer shell of the building, while she and her father riveted, welded, and cemented them in place. It was hard work that would have taken months and required the services of a whole slough of contractors - not to mention an army of cranes - but with Yamucha lifting and Bulma helping him occasionally, they got it done in a small fraction of the time, and at a minuscule fraction of the cost. They were a remarkable team, those three. Dr. Briefs had the brains, Yamucha had the muscle, and Bulma had her fair share of both. At any rate, they were done by the end of the week - only six days after construction had begun. It had everything Bulma's gravity room had and much more of it. It was at least three times the size of hers, with a much stronger internal structure to contain the massive energy output of the gravity machine, not to mention Vegita's explosive chi outbursts. Bulma had even personally installed a "Bulma-proof" vidcam console so that she could yell freely at him should necessity ever call for it.

As soon as they were completely finished, Bulma ran straight out to her own gravity room, determined to get him settled right away. She'd already told him that morning that they'd be finished today, and that she was going to drop by to let him know when it was done. She grinned. She was going to kick him out of her sanctuary once and for all!

"Vegita!" she hollered, pounding her fist on the window of the door when he didn't see her right away. "Open up! Your new building's complete!"

At first she didn't think he'd heard her, because he made no move to stop his training exercises. Nor did he look over at her. It only took a few seconds for her to notice the sly grin that was playing on his lips, however. The arrogant jerk was pretending to ignore her!

"Vegita!" she screamed, her chi flaring fiercely. "Open this door right now, you ingrate! I went to all the trouble of building you that gravity room, and you're damned well going to go use it!"

This time Vegita did pause, but only briefly. He hesitated between punches, shot her a taunting sneer, and then continued with his exercises. He definitely was not making any indication that he intended to leave her gravity building anytime soon.

Bulma screamed again, but this time it wasn't really for the purpose of yelling at Vegita. It was more to vent off the incredible surge of fury that was building up inside her. Grumbling fiercely, she stomped off toward her house, her anger building with every step. Just who did he think he was, anyway? This was her home, and he had no business being so rude to her in her own home. She slammed the kitchen door behind her as she went in the house, and she stomped up the stairs toward her room. Vegita was an asshole, plain and simple, and it was quite clear that the only reason he'd refused to come out of there was just so that he could make her angry. Well, it had worked splendidly. She was tired of his teasing her and acting like she was as harmless as a kitten. One of these days he was going to learn that she was a lot more dangerous than he made her out to be!

Bulma suddenly realized that she had made it up to her room and was already changing into her fighting gi. It had become her knee-jerk reaction to Vegita's obnoxiousness - to fight. She took a deep breath and sat on the bed as she tried to calm down. She was being stupid. Taking Vegita on again wasn't going to accomplish anything; that fact had already been well established. Still, she did so want to make him pay for the way he had treated her. She felt so indignant and insulted. She lay back for a moment as she considered just how she should approach the problem. She had to think about this from the right perspective. Direct combat had already proven ineffective, but maybe if she could come up with a way of fighting him indirectly...

She stared wistfully out the window as she tried to come up with something. Suddenly, something her father had told her a long time ago popped into her head. It had been back when she was a little kid, just entering her first science fair at school, and she had been trying to come up with a winning idea. She had begged her father for help, but he hadn't offered her any clues. Win or lose, he'd wanted his daughter to do it on her own. "Use what you know, Bulma honey," he'd said. Bulma could still remember the calm, cheerful way he'd said it. Although it hadn't given her any specific ideas, it had eventually pointed her in the right direction. "Use what you know." Hm...

Suddenly it came to her. Vegita was much more powerful than she was; that was true. However, that was only in the physical sense. Mentally, she was his superior by a very large margin. All she had to do was use her mind instead of her body to get at him. Of course! That was it! She just had to outsmart him! But still, this only got her part of the way. She still had to figure out just what it was she was going to _do_ to him. She wasn't going to be able to just challenge him to a thinking contest. She had to think up a plan that was going to leave him defeated, both mentally and physically. She wouldn't be satisfied with anything less.

Bulma stood up and began to pace back and forth alongside her bed as she thought hard about what she should do. She had to think of some way to outsmart him, and not only that; she wanted him to know he'd been defeated by her. She couldn't just sneak something past him and let him chalk it up to bad luck. Oh no, she wanted him to _know_ just who had made him look like a fool. That was another thing. She wanted to hit Vegita where it would hurt him the most; she wanted to humiliate him.

What could she possibly do to humiliate him? He was indifferent to most things - looks, diet, manners. All he really cared about was beating Goku, and training hard all the time. Feh. That jerk. He'd had the machine on at eighty today. He was going through the g's as if they were nothing at all. If he kept that up, he might accidentally set the machine too high one day, and then he'd be sorry.

Bulma's brain suddenly offered her a lovely image of Vegita's gravity machine malfunctioning and propelling the hapless Saiyan into a level way too high for him to handle. She imagined him getting squished flatter than an omelet. Heh-heh. A Vegita pancake made a wonderful mental image.

"That's it!" she suddenly cried, smacking her forehead with her hand. "Of course! I can't believe I didn't see it earlier! I'm such an idiot!" Laughing gleefully, she bounded down the hall and down the stairs at top speed. She flew out the door and sped toward the workshop, a devious grin plastered on her face. So that creep wanted to play power games, did he? Well, he'd better be prepared for a coup, because she was about to launch her own little one-woman rebellion against the king of all assholes!

"Whoa!" Yamucha cried, as Bulma raced past the living room and flew out the door. He, Mrs. Briefs, and the Nameks were just sitting down to a movie, and Bulma's sudden departure had startled him into rising out of his chair. "What's up with her?"

"Oh, don't mind her, dear," Mrs. Briefs laughed, motioning for him to sit back down. "She does this all the time. I think she's made a discovery of some kind. She and her father both get that way when a new idea takes hold of them. Don't worry; just let her get the idea worked out in the shop, and she'll be back to herself in a day or two."

"Oh," Yamucha said, hesitantly sitting back down. He wasn't really sure that he should believe her. Bulma had looked a little angry about something to him, and she was wearing her gi, not a lab coat. Still, he knew she had a good head on her shoulders, and he rather doubted she was on her way to do something stupid. If he had known what was on Bulma's mind, however, he would have vowed then and there to never make such hasty assumptions about her again.

Bulma raced out to the workshop and grabbed her tool case capsule off her desk. Her dad was in there, just like usual, except today he had his face buried in a hentai magazine. Bulma was too focused on her plan to notice. She shot back out of the workshop and made a beeline for Vegita's new gravity room.

A large whoosh of air raced through the workshop a couple of seconds after she had already gone, blowing papers and blueprints off Mr. Briefs' already cluttered desk and all over the shop. The little black cat on his shoulder yowled in fright as it was nearly blown off its perch.

"Hi Bulma," Dr. Briefs said mechanically, not really caring that she was no longer there. He sipped his coffee, stroked the nervous little cat's fur, and turned a page in his magazine.

Bulma dashed into Vegita's gravity room and went right to the gravity machine control panel. She popped open her capsule tool case and went to work.

"So he thinks he's so big and important just because he can handle a few g's, huh?" she said, having opened up the control panel and exposed the circuitry underneath. "Well, maybe he won't be so sure of himself if he has a couple hundred g's to deal with!" Her face was flushed with excitement, and her eyes were flashing brilliantly. She was going to fix him, all right!

Bulma was fuming. It really wasn't the fact that Vegita was getting tremendously strong, tremendously fast that bothered her. It wasn't even that he was using her gravity room. What really had her so worked up was the fact that he was deliberately antagonizing her, and that he was taking such great pleasure in doing it! She just couldn't stand it. She didn't know why it bothered her so, but quite frankly, she didn't care why; she just knew that she couldn't stand to be the source of his amusement any longer.

"There!" she said finally, stepping back to inspect her work, her eyes ablaze with fury. "That oughta take the wind out of the S. S. Pain-in-the-ass' sails!" She had tweaked the gravity machine to disregard all commands below two hundred g's, and to instead jump right up to that number. Of course, if he punched in anything higher, it would go higher, but that didn't matter. He'd only recently gotten to eighty. She very much doubted he'd try anything higher than a hundred. She grinned. Even Vegita wouldn't be able to handle two hundred g's for very long! She laughed as the final act to her grand masterpiece took shape in her mind. She was going to hit Vegita where it would hurt him the most, all right! If only for a brief but glorious moment, she was going to rob him of that insufferable pride that he treasured so dearly!

Bulma strolled casually out to her gravity building, recapsulating her toolbox and stuffing the capsule into her pocket as she went. It was already dusk, and she knew that the little ingrate would be emerging sometime in the evening. All she had to do was wait.

That's exactly what she did. She planted herself a good twenty feet away from the door, facing it head-on. She just stood there, standing solidly with her arms folded, determined to meet his icy stare with her own when he walked out that door.

Surprisingly, she didn't have long to wait. Only fifteen minutes or so later, Vegita opened the door and casually stepped out. He had a towel draped around his neck, and he was mopping his face with one end of it. He didn't seem at all concerned by Bulma's standing there and glaring at him, but he wasn't altogether ignoring her, either, because his eyes never once left hers. He'd locked on to them as soon as he'd stepped outside.

Bulma decided she would be the one to make the first move. "You've had a grueling workout, I see," she remarked somewhat coolly. "I guess testing your new gravity building out tonight is out of the question."

"Humph," Vegita snorted, grinning and leaning casually against her gravity building. "Eager to show off your newest little toy, I see."

Bulma didn't even smile. "I wouldn't call it a toy, Vegita," she said coldly. "This machine's a lot stronger than mine is. Even you could do yourself some serious damage if you make a mistake."

"You Earthlings are so obvious with your challenges," he said in a bored tone, nearly causing Bulma to flinch. "The true shame is that you never have any real challenges to offer. But very well; I've got a few minutes to kill. I guess I can indulge you just this once."

Bulma grit her teeth. Damn, he was cocky! She was so going to enjoy this!

She flew with him over to the other side of the Capsule Corporation compound, where the new gravity building was located. She landed with him just outside the door, and she stayed back as he opened it and stepped inside.

"You're not coming in to explain it to me, huh?" he asked disinterestedly.

Bulma shrugged. "The controls work the same way," she said, frowning, "and you obviously didn't need my help with the old ones. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Besides," she added, scowling at the foul taste of the words that she was about to say, "I doubt I could handle the level you intend to begin with. You've already more than doubled the level I'm training in."

Vegita smirked at her. "That's the first truly intelligent thing I've ever heard you say," he said in smug approval. He then turned and walked inside the chamber, shutting the door behind him.

Grinning, Bulma raced around to the vidcam terminal, and she switched on the one-way channel so that she could watch Vegita eat his words. Sure enough, when Vegita turned the machine on and set it to eighty, the program tweak kicked in, and the machine reset itself at two hundred. Vegita abruptly dropped to his hands and knees, gasping in surprise.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed. That was her cue. Bulma switched on the two-way channel, and the video screen inside the chamber popped open on the wall in front of Vegita.

"Hello Vegita," she said politely. "You seem to be experiencing a bit of discomfort in there. Why, whatever is the matter?"

"Bitch!" Vegita spat at the screen. "What the hell did you do?!"

Bulma's expression hardened. "I've proven that I'm not as harmless as you'd like to think I am," she said coldly. "I'm sick of your regarding me as nothing more than a weak, stupid little girl for you to tease and push around. I've got news for you, Vegita: I may not be your match in physical strength, but I am by no means weak!"

"Damn you!" Vegita yelled, obviously in terrible pain by now. He was having a hard time keeping himself from falling flat to the floor.

"What's the matter, Vegita?" Bulma cooed sweetly. "Can't turn the machine off? Well, I can deactivate it for you from here if you ask me nicely! Would you like me to do that, Vegita?"

Vegita jerkily raised his head until he was able to look right at the screen. "Go to Hell!" he snarled vehemently. Bulma grinned. He was stubborn; she'd give him that. He must have found the concept of admitting defeat to her a bit hard to swallow. Well, that was fine with her. She could wait a lot longer than he could!

Suddenly Vegita began to push himself upright again. Bulma could sense his chi skyrocketing in there as, inch-by-inch, he pushed himself up off the floor. She watched in awe as he slowly pushed himself upright, screaming with the effort of the last few inches. Finally, with his chi flaring spectacularly, he stood completely erect, with his arms and shoulders drooping straight down from the enormity of their own weight. Slowly and jerkily, Vegita raised his head until his smoldering gaze fell on Bulma. His teeth were bared, either from the strain of his efforts, his anger, or both. Bulma just stared, transfixed, into his angry face. What was this guy made of, anyway? No one could handle two hundred g's so quickly!

However, this incredible display of power was fairly short-lived. Vegita's eyes suddenly rolled back into their sockets, and with a loud groan, he fell forward and slammed down flat on the floor. After that, he was completely still.

"Vegita?" Bulma cried into the intercom. "Vegita! Say something!" She began to panic. What on Earth had she done? She turned off the machine and shut off the power to the door locks. Then she raced around to the other side of the building and flung open the door. She rushed in and ran up to Vegita, who was still lying prone on the floor.

"Vegita!" she cried, turning him onto his back and shaking his limp body. "Vegita, wake up!"

Vegita's eyes were closed, and he didn't stir an inch. His blank facial expression didn't change in response to her frantic cries, either. Now Bulma really began to panic. "Hang on, Vegita! I'll get a doctor!" she shrieked frantically. She quickly leaped to her feet and was about to run to the phone to call the hospital when her legs were suddenly knocked out from under her. With a yelp of surprise, she landed flat on her back, and in a flash, Vegita had jumped on top of her and pinned her to the floor, holding her shoulders down with his hands as he straddled her legs between his knees.

"Vegita!" she shrieked, half of her relieved that he was okay, and the other half terrified of what he was about to do to her. His cheeks were flushed, and he was looking at her strangely. The crazed expression on his face gave Bulma the impression that something in his mind had snapped.

"You... you brought me to my knees," he panted, his grip around her shoulders tightening. "You might've killed me. No woman has ever managed to do what you've done to me..." He towered over her without comment for a few more seconds, his heavy breathing the only audible sound. His cheeks were deep crimson by now, and he was staring with a strange, fierce intensity at the terrified woman he had trapped beneath him.

Bulma's face, on the other hand, was paler than white paper. She wouldn't have been able to move, even if Vegita had let go of her. She was frozen in terror. Vegita was going to kill her for this; she was sure of it.

Vegita noted the pallor of Bulma's complexion and the stiffness of her body, and he scowled. He gave a slight shudder, and the wild, frightening expression on his face morphed drastically into one of terrible anger. "But I'm not dead, am I?" he growled. "It seems your little plan failed, didn't it, you conniving little fool?"

Bulma was too petrified to reply. She just shook her head from side to side, trying to call on her failing faculties of speech.

"Did you think it was funny to do that?" he roared angrily. "Did you really think you would get away with it?! Did you?!"

Vegita was furious. Bulma just remained frozen in place, too petrified to even shake her head this time. She'd really done it now.

"I ought to kill you for this!" Vegita snarled.

Bulma finally managed to find her voice again, but it was a lot squeakier and shakier than usual. "Y- you wouldn't dare!" she cried, her eyes wide with fear.

"Oh no?" Vegita laughed loudly. "You really don't think the temptation is great enough?" he continued through gritted teeth. "Well, you have no idea how much danger you're in, woman!"

Bulma fought hard against the urge to scream. As her whole body began to tremble from her terror, she swore to herself that if by some miracle she managed to survive this disaster, she'd never allow her temper to override her good judgment ever again.

"Please Vegita," she murmured, now as pale as a ghost. "I would never have let you get hurt! I just wanted to scare you."

Vegita laughed. "You wanted to scare _me_?!" he laughed in an abnormally loud, high-pitched voice. "Well, I guess your little plan didn't work, did it, Miss genius? I'm not scared; I'm angry! I'm angry enough to tear you limb from limb!"

Bulma did scream then - she screamed so loudly that she actually made Vegita flinch. She began to struggle against him, and he growled savagely as he tightened his grip on her to hold her still.

It just so happened that Yamucha, having sensed the terrible increase in Vegita's chi, had left the movie early to find out what was going on. Once outside, he heard Bulma's scream, and he immediately raced toward the sound as fast as his legs would carry him. Something was happening to Bulma! He had never heard her scream like that before. She was in terrible danger, and she needed his help _now_!

"Stop your squalling!" Vegita roared in Bulma's face. "Do you think that's going to scare me too?"

"Let me go!" she screamed hysterically, crying and pushing desperately against him with her hands. All of the old fear had come rushing back to her, and she found herself once again on Freeza's ship, with no one to save her from the enraged Saiyan's wrath. She was more than terrified; she was beside herself with fear, and she was no longer able to control her panic. She kept shutting her eyes and shaking her head, as opening her eyes only showed her the frightening image of his smoldering, infuriated gaze, and this image only pushed her further and further to the brink of her sanity. She had to break free of him! She didn't want to stay under his terrifying eyes for even one more second!

She shrieked and yelped, fighting desperately against him as he seized her wrists and slammed them onto the floor. "No, please!" she screamed, struggling so violently that she might have actually broken her wrists in her hysteria had she not been interrupted at that very moment.

"_Vegita_!" A _very_ angry voice shouted from inside the doorway. Bulma (who had been shaken from her frenzied state of mind by the sound of the familiar voice) and Vegita looked up to see Yamucha, his body ablaze with his own chi aura, glaring with utter hatred at Bulma's attacker. Bulma was so shocked to see him that she stopped crying and screaming all at once. "If you don't get your filthy self away from Bulma," Yamucha yelled, balling his hands into fists, "then I'll rip you to shreds!"

"No!" Bulma cried, suddenly filled with horror. "Yamucha, no! He'll kill you!"

Vegita laughed evilly. "You be quiet," he said, grinning fiendishly down at her. "It seems your friend has a death wish, and it just so happens that I'm in just the right mood to satisfy him!"

"No!" Bulma screamed as Vegita leapt away from her and lunged at Yamucha. What happened next was just a reaction. It didn't even occur to her that there was no other course of action; it was just instinctive.

"Rapid Teleport!" she screamed. Breathing quickly, she scrambled to her feet. She gasped when she saw that Vegita had already landed the first punch, and that, while the Saiyan was still crouching in the doorway, Yamucha was already suspended in the air not less than twenty feet away.

"Oh God!" Bulma sobbed. "This is all my fault! I have to set things straight again, but first I have to get Vegita away from Yamucha!"

She flew up to Yamucha's body, and she pulled him to the ground, laying him flat on his back. She then grabbed Vegita by one arm, and she flew with him for the desert. If nothing else, she wanted him as far away from other people as she could get him.

She flew him out a good hundred miles or so before she stopped. She propped him up on his feet, trying to lessen the loss of balance he'd feel when she restarted time. The less she upset him now, the better. Her face was pale, and her hands were trembling as she made her preparations. She was completely terrified for her own safety, but she was willing to brave even the wrath of Vegita alone if it meant that he wouldn't direct it at anyone else, especially Yamucha, who'd only been wanting to help her.

Finally, after backing off a few feet and trying to compose herself enough to keep the tears at bay, Bulma let time flow again. Vegita wobbled a bit, but he regained his balance almost immediately.

"What the hell?" he cried, looking around wildly. All at once he spied Bulma, who was watching him fearfully from some ten feet away, trembling and looking as though she were about to cry at any moment. "You!" he snarled viciously. "How dare you interfere?!"

"Yamucha wasn't challenging you, Vegita!" she cried, balling her hands into fists and shutting her eyes tightly as tears forced their way into her vision. "He was trying to protect me, and I won't let you kill him for that! I'm the one who screwed up, not him! If you have to kill someone to save your wounded pride, then let it be me, because Yamucha has nothing to do with this!"

Vegita sneered in disgust. "You'd be willing to throw your life away for that spineless waste of skin and flesh? What is he, your lover?"

Bulma was too angry and overcome by emotion to be embarrassed by his accusation. "Yamucha is my sensei," she said, her voice choked with impending sobs, "and he's my best friend. If you think that your being angry with me gives you the right to kill him, then you've got another thing coming, you heartless monster!"

Vegita shot her a snide grin. "I should have known," he said, chuckling harshly. "No wonder the fool tried to keep me away from you. You're his mate, aren't you?"

"I'm nobody's mate!" Bulma shrieked, her face drenched with tears, but her eyes as hot as coals. "I love Yamucha dearly, but not in the way you've oh-so-delicately chosen to put it. He's no man I'd be willing to share the rest of my life with, but that doesn't make a damn bit of difference!" Her chest was heaving and her face was blotchy and red from crying, but she was firm and unwavering. "Just shut up about it, Vegita! I'll thank you not to refer to me in such a vulgar manner," she added hotly, folding her arms and glancing away from him in disgust. "Despite what you may suspect about my love life, it just so happens that the only man I've ever allowed even remotely close to me was Yamucha, and the most we ever did was kiss each other. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the kind of girl you'd like to think I am."

Vegita was struck speechless. He just gaped at Bulma as if what she'd said was the most shocking thing he'd ever heard in his life. After a few moments of shock, he managed to recover his ability to speak.

"You mean, you've never...?" he said, tripping over his own words. "Not even once?"

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Bulma snapped angrily, her face turning every shade of red as she realized what a tremendously intimate detail she'd shared with him. The words had come out before she'd realized what she was saying, and there was no way to take them back now. She wished there was. She found herself hating him even more now, knowing that he knew something so personal about her.

Finally, Vegita grinned. Chuckling, he relaxed his tensed muscles a little bit. "Well, I must admit," he said, his eyes sparkling at her, "it did come as a surprise!"

"Just shut the hell up about it!" Bulma exploded, her face still very crimson. "It's none of your damn business, is it? Besides, it doesn't even have anything to do with why we're out here!"

"No it doesn't," Vegita snickered, "but it certainly makes for some very interesting conversation!"

"Ooh!" Bulma shrieked through gritted teeth. "Damn, I hate you! I wish I were a Saiyan! Maybe then I'd be able to give you the proper beating you deserve!"

Vegita laughed in earnest. "_You_?!" he hooted. "A Saiyan?! Forget Freeza! My race would never have survived a woman like _you_!"

Bulma just gritted her teeth. He was making fun of her again, but at least he was in a better mood. She supposed she'd just have to put up with it, because she just wouldn't be able to handle it if he exploded on her again. Vegita scared the life out of her, plain and simple, and she did not want to have to fight him. She knew what would happen if she did. After a few more moments of his hearty laughter, she just sighed and shook her head, feeling very much defeated.

"Here's the deal," she said dully, not even looking at him. "I'll fix the gravity machine and leave you alone, but only on the condition that you keep from harming my family or friends. I don't trust you at all, Vegita, but since there's nothing I can do to stop you, I'm going to hope that your word counts for something." She looked up at him then, scowling angrily. She hated having to give in to this creep.

Vegita smiled coyly. "That's fine with me," he said, his lip curling up into a sneer, "but if you think that leaves us even, then you're sadly mistaken. I still have to pay you back for that little stunt you pulled!"

"Why, of all the...!" Bulma exclaimed, her eyes flashing with anger. However, she paused when she remembered why she was giving up in the first place, and she took a few deep, calming breaths. "Fine," she said quietly. "If you still need to satisfy your bloodlust, then be my guest. Just keep in mind that I'll need the use of my arms to fix your damned gravity machine."

Vegita strolled casually over to her and cupped his hand around the back of her neck. Then he pulled her toward him with a firm tug.

Bulma gave a frightened start at the feel of his hand against the sensitive skin on her neck. "What are you doing?" she cried, beginning to tremble involuntarily. This was entirely different from the kind of retaliation she'd expected to receive from him.

Vegita's face was mere inches away from hers. "I'm curious," he said quietly. "Just why are you being so submissive all of the sudden? It doesn't suit you at all."

Bulma's breathing quickened. He was scaring the hell out of her, scrutinizing her so closely with those piercing eyes of his. "I... I just want to see to it that you leave my friends alone," she whispered, trying nervously to step back away from him. "I don't want you to hurt them, Vegita."

Vegita's grip didn't allow for any form of retreat. His piercing gaze was really beginning to get to her. Bulma stared back at him imploringly. She was beginning to feel a little lightheaded.

Vegita didn't relent, however. He simply remained where he was, studying her with those terrifying eyes, which held hers in an inescapable lock.

"Please," she pleaded, her whispered voice barely audible. "Stop it. Let go of me, Vegita."

Vegita didn't answer her, but instead, he stared directly into her eyes, his enigmatic gaze more penetrating and unbearable than before. Bulma could feel her pulse quickening steadily, and her breathing was starting to become somewhat irregular. She wished she knew what he was going to do. She wished he'd go ahead and do it, whatever _it_ was. He was scaring the life out of her.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Vegita released her and stepped back. Bulma backed away almost immediately, clutching at her heaving chest with one hand. She stared apprehensively at him, not daring to make another move as she waited for the attack that she was sure was to come in the next few moments.

"Very well then," he said finally, still staring into Bulma's pale, trembling face. "I agree to your arrangement, but if any of your fool acquaintances happens to make the mistake of challenging me, all bets are off, and it will be the last mistake they'll ever make." Without another word, he shot up into the sky and flew off into the central part of the desert, which surprised her, considering the fact that it was in the opposite direction from Capsule Corporation.

Bulma sank to her knees. She was partly relieved that he hadn't hurt her, but mostly still reeling from the strange things he _had_ done. She hadn't been able to read anything from his expression, but it had filled her with a chilling kind of terror nonetheless. She didn't know what he could possibly have been thinking, but she did know one thing for certain: he truly frightened her. He filled her with a strange, inexplicable sense of dread that she'd never felt anywhere else before, and it was almost too frightening for her to bear.

Sighing shakily, Bulma stood up on wobbly legs and began her flight home. There was only one thing to do. She was going to fix Vegita's gravity machine and pray to Kami-sama that he would spend all his waking hours either in there or off the compound. Bulma had resolved that, from now on, she was going to avoid Vegita at all costs.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: Kuririn Comes to Visit**

When Bulma got back to the Capsule Corporation compound, the first thing she did was go check on Yamucha. She found him in the same place she'd left him - out cold.

"Poor Yamucha," Bulma thought sadly as she pulled one of his arms over her shoulders and lifted him up. "Vegita knocked him out after just the first hit. This'll be a real blow to his pride."

Bulma brought Yamucha into the house and laid him out on the couch. Everyone was already done watching the movie, and all the Nameks had gone. Mrs. Briefs, however, was still up, and she was in there on her favorite chair with a book when Bulma walked in with Yamucha.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed when she noticed Bulma come in. "What happened to Yamucha?"

"He and Vegita got into a fight," Bulma said, adjusting his legs and propping him up onto a pillow so that he'd be more comfortable. "Yamucha lost, but don't worry; he's not really hurt. He just got knocked out."

"Oh well," Mrs. Briefs sighed. "I'm glad no one got hurt. Do you know what they were fighting about?"

Bulma winced. She was too ashamed to tell her mother that. "No," she lied, "but I made Vegita promise to behave himself. Anyway, Yamucha's going to be pretty upset and excitable when he wakes up. Just tell him that I'm in Vegita's gravity room. That's all he'll stick around to hear."

"Okay then," Mrs. Briefs replied, frowning slightly. She wasn't completely clueless. She could tell that Bulma was being dishonest with her, and she wasn't happy about it, but she didn't really want to force the truth out of her either. She decided to just let it go for the time being. "I'll tell him," she said. "Be careful, okay?"

Bulma smiled. "Always am, Mom," she said. She left then, and Mrs. Briefs sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion that her daughter had something to do with the reason that the boys had been fighting. There wasn't any way to be sure, though. Maybe it would be best to trust Bulma to tell her whenever she felt it was necessary. She was a grown woman, after all; she could take care of herself.

Bulma left right away for Vegita's gravity room. It would take her an hour or so to rewire it, but at least the process was reversible. She sighed as she removed the screws holding down the control panel. She'd really messed things up this time.

It wasn't more than a few seconds after Bulma had finished when Yamucha came running out to the gravity room, shouting her name and sounding very distressed indeed as he approached. Bulma wiped a few beads of sweat off of her brow and turned toward the door.

"I'm in here!" she called, clamping the lid back on the control panel. "Come on in, Yamucha!"

He ran in and immediately rushed to her before seizing her in his arms and giving her a crushing bear hug. "Thank God," he croaked, his voice choked with emotion. "I thought he'd... I thought you were... Oh, Bulma, I was so worried!"

"It... It's okay, Yamucha," Bulma said, a pained expression on her face. She hated herself for causing him all this grief. "It's okay."

"No it's not," he said, loosening his grip and leaning back so that he could look her in the face. "Are you all right? Where's Vegita? I swear that if he's hurt you..."

"He didn't hurt me, Yamucha," she said, holding a hand up. "I managed to talk him out of it. Come on; it's too hot and dry in here, and I'm parched. Let's go get something to drink, and I'll tell you everything that happened, from start to finish, okay?"

She left for the house then, followed by a very relieved Yamucha. They sat down in the kitchen after Bulma poured them each a cold drink. Once she had them both settled, Bulma told Yamucha everything, from the night she and Vegita'd had their first little go-round, all the way up to the point where she had come back to fix Vegita's gravity machine.

"That bastard!" Yamucha said viciously when she had finished. "He can't get away with that! What makes him think he can boss us around like that? I won't stand for it!"

"Don't get so upset, Yamucha," Bulma sighed. "It's mostly my fault anyway. I shouldn't have let him get to me and lost my temper like that."

"Yeah, but Vegita has no right to treat you like that! The jerk had better keep his filthy hands off of you!"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Bulma said, looking down at her half-finished glass of club soda, "but I knew you would react to it this way, and I was afraid you'd get yourself killed."

"The only complaint I have about any of what you did," Yamucha said, scowling darkly, "was to tell Vegita that you're still a virgin. That was a really bad move, Bulma. The sick creep sure seemed awfully interested when you told him that, don't you think?"

"What would you have had me say?" Bulma snapped. "That I'm some kind of hussy? Anyway, it's not like I said it on purpose. He made me mad, and I said it without thinking, but there'll be no more of that. I'm not giving that creep any more chances to do this crap to me. He's just too dangerous for me to lose my temper and fly off the handle at him. I've decided that we should just leave him alone. I don't know about you, but he scares me spitless. I don't ever want to have to face him like that again. I can't even think straight; I get so scared."

Yamucha sighed. "I told you that you shouldn't have let him stay here," he chided gently. "That man's no good."

Bulma just shrugged. "Maybe you're right," she sighed, shaking her head, "but Vegita is here to stay, regardless. Let's just leave him alone. In about three weeks we'll be able to collect the dragonballs again. Then we can wish Goku back, and he'll take care of Vegita for us."

Yamucha nodded. "All right then," he said. "I'll keep an eye on him until that happens. In the meantime, though, I want you to keep away from him. He seems to be singling you out for some reason, and when I saw you two this evening, I thought for sure I knew why. I'm not entirely convinced that I'm wrong, so I want you to stay away from that maniac. I don't want him to hurt you."

Bulma laughed dryly. "He's not singling me out, Yamucha," she said. "I'm the one who's been starting all the fights here. If you stop to look at it, it actually seems more like I'm singling him out. Besides," she added, frowning at him. "I can take care of myself, and if it'll do anything to ease your mind, I can promise you that right now, there's nothing I'd like more than to never see Vegita again. You can be sure that I won't be spending any unnecessary time with him. All the same, I don't want to hear anything else about you spying on him, either. I won't have you sneaking around after him and giving him cause to fight again. You heard what he said. Quite frankly, Yamucha, he could easily kill you if he wanted to, and I can tell you right now; he's just itching for an excuse. You'd be wise to avoid him too."

"Yeah," Yamucha sighed. "I know, but I can't help wanting to keep an eye on that guy. I just know that he's up to something."

"I think it's unlikely," Bulma said in a rather frank tone. "I believe him when he says he's going to try to surpass Goku, and I'd say that's a full-time job. It doesn't leave much time for scheming. Anyway, what could he possibly be planning? There's nothing else for him to do. He hates it here. He doesn't want to rule the planet, and even if he does, he's a lot stronger than any of us, so we can't do anything to stop him. Just ignore him, Yamucha. If Vegita gets angry again, there's no telling what he'll do."

"Oh all right!" Yamucha groaned in exasperation. "We'll leave him alone! He might just be waiting for us to let our guard down, but we'll just turn a blind eye to him!"

"Oh well," Bulma said, shrugging and flashing him a coy grin. "I guess we'll just have to pretend we don't care about his Earth-shattering plans of conquest. You know what they say, Yamucha; ignorance is bliss, and from what I can tell, we're pretty blissful individuals."

"Speak for yourself!" Yamucha said playfully, snapping his arm forward and grabbing a chunk of her hair so that he could yank it.

"Ow!" Bulma shrieked with a laugh, shoving him back in his chair and jumping up out of hers. "That's it! I know a challenge when I see one! You and me, pal! Come on! We'll take it outside!"

Yamucha laughed. He couldn't help it. Bulma took the opportunity to shove him hard in the chest and he went crashing backwards, the chair flying up into the air and landing awkwardly on top of him. Bulma bolted for the door, just as Yamucha detached himself from the chair and leapt up to follow her.

"Nyah!" she taunted him, sticking her tongue out and pulling down one of her eyelids at him. He gave chase when she bolted out the door, and they raced all the way outside, where they took to the air.

That night it was really more fun than real training. After they got through playing around and chasing each other all over the compound, they eventually made their way to Bulma's gravity room for some light sparring. Bulma only set the machine to twenty, and they basically grappled and struggled with each other to see who would give first. Neither one made any signs of giving up until about two in the morning, and by that time they were so tired that they finally agreed to call it a draw. Bulma turned the machine off and they pretty much dropped where they were, panting and very much exhausted. Bulma fell asleep nearly right away, and as she lay there - snoring rather loudly - she was unaware that Yamucha had crawled over to lie down next to her.

He watched her sleep for a few minutes before he settled down himself. He smiled at her as she drooled a little in mid-snore. It hurt him so much to know that she'd never be anything more to him than just his best friend. He loved her; he was sure of it, but he knew that she didn't feel the same way, and somehow, he had to accept that. He sighed as he settled down on the floor up against her, the warmth of her body complementing his own. They'd done this so many times before out in the desert: fallen asleep together under the stars after a long day of hard training. There had been so many nights when he'd practically begged her to do more than sleep, but she had always gently but firmly refused him. She was such an old-fashioned girl in that sense, and it was surprising to him sometimes, when he considered the fast-paced type of life that she led. He'd never been able to get past those firm moral values of hers about love. It had been a bit disappointing at times, but it had by no means lowered his opinion of her.

Those times were gone, however. They were no longer the carefree, happy couple training together out in the quiet desert he and Puar used to call home. All he could do now was just be there for her when she needed him. She may not have wanted him as a boyfriend anymore, but that didn't mean he was going to just stand by and let something happen to her. He was determined to protect her by any means necessary, and it seemed that lately she needed it more than she ever had.

With Vegita around, Yamucha had witnessed a total change take place in Bulma's personality. She had become far more withdrawn and nervous than he'd ever seen her, and it always seemed to worsen at the mere mention of the Saiyan's name. The man really did terrify her. It made Yamucha wonder if maybe she was hiding something terrible from him - some event that might possibly explain this tremendous fear that Vegita managed to have struck in her. He scowled as he reflected on the scene he'd stepped into tonight. He had thought for sure that his suspicions about Vegita's motives had been confirmed by tonight's events.

Why shouldn't he think such things? He saw no reason to put it past Vegita to force himself on Bulma. He rather doubted Vegita'd done that yet, though. Bulma'd be much worse off than this if that had ever happened, and she certainly never would have invited him to stay at the compound. Still, that psycho might be considering it. It would certainly explain why the freak was always staring at Bulma with such intensity. He knew himself what a charming, beautiful woman Bulma was, and he had little doubt that Vegita had noticed the same thing.

If Vegita really did get it into his little pea-brain to steal Bulma's virtue, there would be little she could do to stop him. She was strong all right; she hadn't noticed it yet, but all that intense gravity training she was putting herself through had already made her a far cry more powerful than he was. Even so, Vegita had her beaten by such a high margin that there was no way she could win in even a fair fight with him, much less the kind of fight Vegita could be expected to give her. He already knew that if Vegita did try something, he'd be even less help to her than she would be to herself. All the same, though, he was determined to make sure it never happened.

Maybe he was worrying too much. He really hoped that this was the case, but he certainly didn't care to take that kind of chance. If he ever again had to feel the anger and helplessness he'd felt tonight, it just might make him do something drastic. He wasn't necessarily above using underhanded methods of assuring Bulma's safety. There were easier ways to kill Vegita than fighting him. He knew that it would come down to that if Vegita ever did threaten Bulma again. He'd have to kill him. That's all there was to it. He never wanted to see the terror he'd seen on Bulma's face tonight ever again.

Sighing again, he rolled over onto his side and waited for sleep to come. Bulma would never be his, but at least if he had his way, she'd always be safe.

- - - - -

Bulma awoke to the sound of one of her father's cats mewling in her ear. She looked at it sleepily, and after releasing a lazy yawn, she rolled away from it, only to roll over onto something hard and lumpy.

"Oof," the mysterious object mumbled. "Knock it off, Bulma." He pushed her back again, and it took Bulma's tired brain a few seconds to tell her that it was Yamucha's voice that had said it.

Bulma jerked awake then as she tried to remember where she was and how she'd gotten here. She remembered that she and Yamucha had been blowing off some steam in the gravity room. They must have fallen asleep in there.

"G'mornin' honey!" Dr. Briefs cried from the doorway. "Gee, if I'd known that this was what you two wanted the gravity room for, I would have put in a bed for you!"

The silly grin on his face immediately alerted her to the fact that he wasn't talking about sleeping. "Dad!" Bulma cried, standing straight up, her face very red indeed. "How can you say such a thing?! About your own daughter, yet!"

"Oh, don't be so modest, Bulma!" Yamucha said suddenly, grabbing her around the waist and wrestling her to the floor. "He knows all about our wild nights together by now, doesn't he?"

"Yamucha!" Bulma screeched, trying to wiggle away from him, and rewarding his joke with a sharp smack in the face. "Stop encouraging him, you jerk!"

Both Yamucha and Dr. Briefs laughed as he let her go, and she flew like a bullet out of the room. She zipped up about twenty feet in the air above them, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Honestly!" she yelled down at them. "You two are worse than teenagers, for heaven's sake!"

The laughing only got louder, so she flew off toward the house. Men! Nevertheless, she couldn't help giggling a little as she landed just outside the kitchen. Yamucha really was a lot like her father in some ways, she thought to herself. They had always seemed to get along together so well, those two. "Oh well," she thought with a sigh as she walked into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning, honey," came her mom's chipper voice as she walked in. "I don't suppose you want to tell me what happened last night, do you? Yamucha darted out in the middle of the movie, saying he needed to check on you. The next thing I know, you're carrying him in, saying that he and Vegita got into a fight. What happened? Is it something you don't want to tell me, Bulma?"

Bulma sighed. Her mother could read her like a book. Did she really want to worry her with this? It wasn't going to happen again, after all. Still, she did feel like she owed her mother some kind of explanation. She might as well just get it over with.

"Well, it's like this," Bulma sighed, sitting down. "I did something really stupid. I got angry with Vegita for something silly, and to get back at him, I sabotaged his new gravity machine to make him look bad. Well, he wasn't too good-natured about it, as you can imagine. He was on the verge of killing me when Yamucha showed up. For some reason, Vegita went for him right away, and he only had to hit him once to knock him out. I teleported Vegita away from the compound, and I somehow managed to talk him out of killing Yamucha by promising to fix his gravity machine."

"Wow," Mrs. Briefs said, sitting down across the table from Bulma. "How did you keep him from killing you? You're the one who made him so angry in the first place."

Bulma shifted uncomfortably. She didn't really feel like telling her this part. "It was really strange, Mom," she said. "At first I thought he was going to beat me up, but he didn't. Instead, he did something... well... weird."

"What did he do?" Mrs. Briefs asked eagerly.

"It was really very frightening," Bulma said, squirming in her seat. "He... he put his hand behind my neck and pulled me so close to him that our noses were less than a couple of inches away from each other..."

"And then?" Mrs. Briefs said excitedly, holding her breath.

"He just stared into my eyes and scared me out of my mind," Bulma said, shuddering. "I'll never be able to forget those cold, dark eyes of his," she said quietly. "It felt like he was staring right into my soul." She shuddered again. "I can't tell you how much that man scares me, Mom. Now that I've fixed his gravity machine, I'm hoping he'll just hole himself up in there and ignore me. I don't want to have to deal with him again. I usually hate to admit it when I'm afraid, but I feel no shame in telling you that Vegita frightens the life out of me."

Mrs. Briefs sighed, her face falling into a very disappointed frown. "So what happened after that?" she asked gently. "He just let you go?"

"Yes," Bulma said, nodding. "He told me that as long as no one tries to challenge him again, he'll leave us alone and just go about his business. I don't know why, but I believe him. Maybe it's just because I want to so much."

Mrs. Briefs nodded. "Well," she said, "I passed your message along to Yamucha last night when he came to, and you were right. He ran out of the house right away, muttering something about having to find you before it was too late. That was the last time I saw either of you. Where did you two end up," she asked, arching an eyebrow at her, "and were you still together when you ended up there?"

Bulma smiled. Her mother never was one for beating around the bush. "We ended up going to my gravity room to spar and let off some steam in the end," she replied. "We wore ourselves out pretty thoroughly, I guess, because we ended up falling asleep next to each other on the floor in there. Dad's the one who woke us up, and of course he teased us about using our gravity room for unusual purposes."

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "That's your father, all right," she giggled. "Well, I'm glad you told me, Bulma. I was pretty worried about you two. At least everyone's okay."

"Yeah," Bulma said, forcing a smile. "That's true. At least no one got hurt."

Mrs. Briefs perked up then, and she whistled as she got up to leave the room. She was almost always in a good mood, Bulma thought to herself. Oh well. At least someone around here was. Bulma made herself some breakfast, ate, and then went upstairs and cleaned up. Afterward she told her mom she was going out to the city for some shopping.

"Tell Yamucha that I'd like to be alone for a while and that I'll be back this evening," Bulma said, waving good-bye as she left.

"Okay," Mrs. Briefs said cheerily. "Be careful dear, and have fun!"

"Thanks Mom," she called back as she walked out the door and leapt into the air. She really did feel like a long walk in the city today. She flew along until she reached the outskirts of town, whereupon she landed as discreetly as she could on a fairly deserted stretch of road just outside one of the main sections of the city. Then she started walking briskly toward the busiest part of town. The more noise and distraction she could find today, the better. She'd decided that the loud distractions of the city would be good to take her mind off things. Besides, she hadn't had a chance to do some real shopping in a while. Maybe she'd buy something nice for Yamucha; his birthday would be coming up in a month or so.

It wasn't too long before Bulma had settled down and lost herself in the bustling activity of the city. It really was a nice, large, busy city with lots of people and lots of noise, and it was exactly what Bulma had wanted. Sometimes it was easier to be alone in a large mass of people you didn't know.

As Bulma was passing one of her favorite dress shops, she suddenly heard gunfire and screams from across the street. She turned her head to see several large thugs with guns and bags of money out in front of one of the banks in a standoff with the city police. Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes. So much for being alone, she thought to herself. Grumbling something unintelligible about the incompetent cops in her area, Bulma took to the sky, shopping bag in hand. She was wearing a casual spring dress instead of her gi, but that didn't really matter much. If these bozos had to rely on guns, she wasn't going to have to move around too much.

Bulma landed in between the police and the bank robbers amidst a flurry of gasps from the crowd. "Hold this, will you please?" she asked, tossing her shopping bag to the nearest confused policeman. She turned back around and cocked her head to one side as she stared with pretend curiosity at the bank robbers.

"Well, what have we here?" The largest one asked, grinning sloppily at her. "Whatsa matter, cutie? Come ta make a deposit?"

He and the others laughed raucously at this. They must have mistaken it for humor.

Bulma smiled at them and walked boldly away from the police. "Now boys," she said coyly, "if you four gentlemen would kindly turn yourselves over to these men in uniform behind me, I won't have to hurt you. Doesn't that sound nice?" she asked, folding her hands behind her back and casually advancing until she was less than four feet away from the nearest beefy brute – the one who had spoken to her earlier.

They all burst out into riotous laughter then, and her buddy stepped more closely to her, until he was right in Bulma's face. He grinned at her. "You really think you can hurt me, cream puff?" he asked her in a snide, coarse tone.

Bulma smiled demurely at him but didn't back away. "I'd rather not have your broken bones on my conscience," she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him, "but I'm certainly not afraid of you, either."

He stared at her in astonishment for a few seconds before laughing loudly and grabbing onto one of her arms. "Boys, I just got me an idea!" he cried. "Since this chick ain't scared of us, why don't we make her our new partner?"

They all stared at him blankly for a few seconds before they finally caught what he meant, and then they were all smiles. Bulma continued to smile back at them, all the while looking forward to the perfect moment to drop the bomb on their little heist. She was going to vent a bit of her frustrations on these turkeys, but it wouldn't be as satisfying if she didn't wait for just the right moment to strike.

"Your partner?" she asked them, putting a finger to her lips and giving the man who had grabbed her arm her best impression of a ditzy airhead. "Does that mean you're going to do as I asked and turn yourselves in?"

"Not exactly," he laughed, yanking her up against his chest, wrapping an arm around her neck, and pressing a gun against her temple. Bulma had wanted to humor him a little, so she allowed him to think he'd caught her. She winked at the policemen, who were watching on in horror.

"Okay, all you pigs listen up!" he called out to the angry, distressed policemen in front of them. "I want a gassed-up chopper capsule here in less than ten minutes, or the brainless bimbo here gets it in the head." He wiggled the barrel of the large pistol against her temple as he said it.

"Now, don't do anything rash," one of the policeman said, motioning for one of the other policemen to call in on a CB. "We're making the order now. Just stay calm, miss; we'll get you out of this."

"Thank you very much, but you needn't bother," she replied with a smart wink. "They won't hurt me. I wouldn't bother ordering them that helicopter, since they won't be able to use it in prison anyway."

"Think yer funny, eh?" the thug laughed, pressing the gun more tightly against her skin. "I suppose you think that you bein' a girl makes you immune to bullets, is that it? D'you think I won't really hurt you? I've shot cuter chicks than you!"

"Perhaps I haven't been clear enough with you boys," Bulma replied, reaching up and grabbing the gun out of his hand with lightning speed. "What I should have told you," she continued, flipping him over the top of her with her free hand, causing him to land hard on his back, "is that if you don't go with the police, they can't protect you from me."

She nonchalantly turned around to face the other thugs, and as she did so, she twisted and crumpled the other's pistol until it was nearly beyond recognition. She tossed it casually in the air behind her, and it hit the head of her would-be attacker, who - having snuck up behind her to tackle her - got knocked unconscious by his own gun.

Bulma then darted forward, and before anyone could blink, she had snatched the guns from the hands of the robbers. "You won't be needing these where you're going either," she chuckled, tossing them up into the air. Then, grinning at their horrified expressions, she shot a powerful heat blast at the guns, melting them together. The warped, fused weapons landed - still smoking - on the ground in front of the bank robbers.

"Now," she said, frowning disapprovingly at them. "I will ask you only one more time to give yourselves up, boys. You have a choice; you can walk to the patrol cars, or you can be carried there on stretchers. It's up to you. Which will it be?" she asked, stepping aside and pointing to the policemen with a welcoming smile and a coquettish giggle. The three frightened crooks ran nervously past her to the relative safety of the policemen, and as Bulma picked up their unconscious comrade and followed casually behind, the crowd cheered thunderously. They'd never seen anything like this before!

After the bank robbers had been loaded into a couple of squad cars and sent on their way, a veritable swarm of TV reporters crowded in around Bulma. They were screaming questions at her and pushing and shoving to get in close to her. Sighing, Bulma reached over and grabbed her shopping bag from the policeman she'd tossed it to.

"Sorry everyone," she said, smiling politely, "but I really don't have the time to answer all of your questions. Good-bye!" With that, she shot up into the sky and took off at top speed for Capsule Corporation.

"Great," she thought glumly. "So much for a nice, peaceful day of shopping. I got to intimidate some thugs, but it wasn't really all that satisfying. I would have preferred to shop the rest of the afternoon."

She flew home quickly, hoping she wouldn't be followed, and at the rate she was flying, she knew there was no danger of that. When she landed outside the kitchen door, she sighed again. She hoped her hassles were over for the day.

She walked inside and set her shopping bag on the table. Glancing at her watch, she realized that it was barely lunchtime. She hadn't spent more than a couple of hours out shopping! Bulma groaned. She still had half the day left, and she just knew it was going to be boring. Maybe she should find Yamucha and ask him if he wanted to go do something with her to kill some time.

She walked into the living room, expecting to find him watching TV with her mom. Only Mrs. Briefs was there, however, but Bulma had been right in thinking she was watching TV.

"Hi, Bulma!" she greeted her, smiling cheerfully. "I'm just watching a little TV. How was your trip to the city?"

"Annoying," Bulma said, rolling her eyes. "Everything was nice and peaceful until four idiots tried to rob a bank. Then it was anything but peaceful, so I left."

"Oh my!" Mrs. Briefs laughed. "So you _are_ the one they've been going on about! You're quite a celebrity now, Bulma!"

"What?" Bulma cried. "But it's only been five minutes!"

"Take a look!" Mrs. Briefs chuckled, pointing to the screen as she turned up the volume. There was a well-dressed male reporter standing out in front of the bank, and he had a policeman standing next to him. Bulma recognized him as the one who had held her shopping bag throughout the whole fiasco. She watched in angry astonishment as the reporter interviewed him.

"This is officer Tanaka Hirohoto," the reporter said, introducing him. "Now, officer Hirohoto, I understand that you were the first person whom this strange woman addressed when she literally dropped out of the sky in front of you. What happened?" He extended the microphone to the policeman, who scratched his head and chuckled good-naturedly.

"Well, she told me to hold her shopping bag for her," he said with a grin. "I guess it _is_ hard to fight crime when you've still got your bag of purchases to look after."

"Yes, well," the reporter said impatiently, "what happened then?"

"Well, at first I didn't know what to make of it," he said, frowning slightly. "I mean, she sounded real sure of herself; like she thought she could take on all four of those hoodlums alone. I'll admit, I didn't think for a second that she had a lick of smarts at the time. I guess she proved me wrong. Anyway, I thought everything had taken a real turn for the worse when Vinny grabbed ahold of her. He's the crazy one of the bunch. Heh. Vin's gonna be out for a while yet, too. I don't know how the heck she twisted his gun up like she did, but I crack up every time I remember the way she clonked him over the head with it!"

"About the weapons," the reporter persisted. "We're hearing rumors that she did more than just twist them beyond recognition. Your squad has already gathered what remained of the others for evidence, but tell me, just what happened to them? Those of you who we talked to say that they could scarcely believe their own eyes! Try to explain it to our audience, if you can."

"Now _that_ was pure amazing." Hirohoto said flatly. "She just flung them things up in the air and shot fire at 'em from her hands. I've never seen anything like it, and I know it wasn't a bunch of special effects, either. One of the forensics down at the station specializes in chemistry, an' he says it woulda taken temperatures upwards of two-thousand Celcius to melt that iron so quick! Now that's pretty darn amazing, since most iron forges don't go any higher than sixteen-hundred!"

"Incredible!" the reporter agreed. "Indeed, this woman must truly be amazing! But who is she? And where is she from? Have you ever seen her before?"

"I don't know about the first two," Hirohoto said, his face adopting a thoughtful expression. "But I can say that I've never seen her before. I'd have remembered. Anyway, I can say this much: I'm glad she's on our side. We'd be in a bad fix if she ever had a notion to become a criminal, instead've fighting 'em. We'd never keep up with her! Oh, and if she's watching," he said, looking into the camera and grinning, "thanks so much for all your help! Me and the guys over at the forty-sixth all take our hats off to ya, Ma'am! We been after these four for a long time!"

"Well, there you have it," the reporter said, as Hirohoto left to resume his task of calming down the crowd. "This mysterious woman, whom some of our viewers have already dubbed 'The Blue Angel,' remains a mystery. If any of you out there have any clue as to the whereabouts and/or identity of this amazing woman, please contact us immediately. Wait a minute," he said suddenly, holding one hand to his ear as he got a message from his ear bud. "I've just been informed that one of our crews managed to get some footage of her just before she left. We will now switch you over to that tape."

The picture switched over to Bulma smiling and waving good-bye, and then taking off into the air. The camera followed her ascent, and it managed to get a very revealing shot of her panties as she took off and zoomed out of view.

"Gah!" Bulma shrieked, mortified by what she'd just seen. "I can't believe...! Well of all the...! I never...! I ought to sue that station for all they have!" she exploded, her face the color of a beet. "How dare they do such a thing to me?! On national television! Why... I'm so mad, I could scream!"

"Oh my! Ladybug panties today!" Mrs. Briefs giggled. She laughed merrily as Bulma shot her a withering glare. "Oh, don't worry, Bulma!" she chuckled, waving it away. "At least no one who knows you is watching this!"

"The Blue Angel!" Bulma grumbled, looking angrily down at her turquoise dress. "Of all the ridiculous things!"

Suddenly the telephone rang, and Bulma got up to get it. She checked the number on the ID. It was the Kame House. She wondered what it could be about.

"Hello?" she said, picking up the receiver. "Is that you, Kuririn?"

"Hiya, Bulma, you fox!" the turtle hermit's voice blared at her from the receiver. "Just saw the news, and I must say, that was a nice piece of work you showed, er... did! How's about comin' over here and lettin' me 'uncover' the rest of the story!"

"Go soak your head, you old pervert!" Bulma screeched into the phone, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. Her face had turned red all over again, and her mother could just barely be heard stifling her giggles in the other room. "I can't believe you had the lack of taste to call me just for that!"

Muten Roshi cackled good-naturedly. "Well then," he said jovially, "that's good, because this ain't the real reason I'm calling anyway."

"It damn well better not be!" Bulma grumbled, fire flashing in her eyes.

"The real reason I'm calling you is t' tell ya that Kuririn's on his way to visit. He should be there in a few minutes."

"Really?" Bulma gasped excitedly, her face brightening completely. "That's great! Thanks!"

"No problem," Roshi said. "You can pay me back by sending me a full-color picture of your..." Bulma cut him off by hanging up the phone on him. Beaming happily, she darted for the door. She flung it open and dashed outside, only to crash headlong into Vegita.

"Ouch!" she cried, bouncing backwards and landing hard on her back in front of him. She sat upright and glanced up angrily, ready to snap at whoever had been in her way. She met the stern gaze of Vegita, and almost instantly her anger deflated, leaving only the cold chill of fear in its place.

"Oh," she said, getting up and stepping back away a little. "Vegita... You're back. Uh... well... Your machine is fixed."

Vegita didn't reply. He just stood there, staring at her. Bulma wondered if he was still angry with her. She sidled off a few paces to his left, and then she gulped, glancing furtively around him and trying to decide whether she ought to make a break for it or not.

Fortunately, she didn't have to, because Vegita simply gave a light harrumph and strolled right past her into the house. He must have been on his way in for another refrigerator raid. Bulma let out a heavy sigh of relief before she took off for Yamucha's place. That had been close! She shuddered as she landed on the ground outside Yamucha's door. Vegita was back. That meant that everyone was going to have to be very careful around here. She knew that Kuririn would be okay, because he was inherently cautious, but she wasn't so sure about Yamucha. She sighed and shook her head. Maybe there'd be safety in numbers. As long as she and Yamucha stuck together and stayed away from Vegita, everyone would be fine.

"Yamucha!" she called, knocking on his door. "Yamucha, come out! I have great news!"

"Over here, Bulma!" came his voice from the other side of the building. Bulma leaped over it, too excited to bother with running around the side.

Yamucha and Puar were relaxing in lounge chairs. Yamucha grinned at her when she landed.

"You're back early!" he exclaimed, beaming at her as he unfolded his arms from behind his head. "Puar and I were taking in some sun! It's a great day to be lazy, Bulma! Why don't you join us?"

Bulma laughed. "Get up off your lazy butt, you ninny!" she said, and she promptly turned the chair up, dumping him out onto the ground. "Kuririn's coming over!"

"What? Really?" Yamucha cried, scrambling up onto his feet. "When?"

"Well, judging from that speck up in the sky, I'd say in about fifteen seconds!" Bulma cried suddenly, looking up and waving excitedly at the swiftly approaching man above them. Kuririn shot straight down to them and landed silently on the grass in front of them.

"Hi guys!" he said, laughing at their beaming faces. "Gee, I've never seen anyone look so happy to see me! Wow!"

Bulma laughed. "We just missed you, I guess," she said happily. "So, what brings you here?" she asked, glancing with interest at the duffel bag he was carrying.

Kuririn looked down at it too, and he shuffled his feet a bit. "Well, I know this is kind of short notice," he said timidly, looking back up, "but could I possibly crash here for a few weeks? At least just until you wish Goku back?"

"Sure!" Bulma said, her face aglow with joy. "We'd love to have you over, and there's plenty of room! We'll just set you up with a Capsule house next to Yamucha's, okay?"

"Thanks so much," Kuririn said with a relieved sigh. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"No problem," Bulma said, returning the grin that Yamucha had just shot her. "Is there any particular reason why you wanted to stay here?"

"Nah, it's just Roshi," Kuririn said, raising his eyes to the sky. "A guy can only stand so much talk about dirty magazines and panties before he's had enough. I needed to get away from him for a while. That, and I kind of miss you guys. It got kind of lonely with only Umigame and the old man around."

"Well, we're sure glad to have you," Yamucha said, clapping a hand on Kuririn's shoulder. "We could use an extra man around here, anyway. Vegita's causing problems, and I'd feel a lot better if you were here in case we need your help."

"Wha?" Kuririn said, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpoints. "Vegita?"

"Don't be stupid, Yamucha!" Bulma snapped, smacking the back of his head. "You make it sound like you want us to wage a war on him or something!"

"He's already attacked you twice!" Yamucha exclaimed. "I'm just saying that I don't trust him to do what he told you, all right? Maybe with Kuririn here too, he'll think twice about trying anything else!"

"Wait a minute!" Kuririn interjected. "What did I miss? Vegita attacked you, Bulma?"

"It's not like that, really," Bulma said uncomfortably. "It was more my fault than anything for provoking him. I should have known better than to make him mad."

"Did he hurt you?" Kuririn asked, his expression darkening.

"Do I look hurt to you?!" Bulma said angrily. "No! He didn't hurt me! And I don't see why you guys automatically assume that he's going to do anything else! Just leave him alone, all right? He won't cause any trouble if you just keep away from him! For Heaven's sake, just don't make him angry!"

Bulma was on the verge of hysterics. This was definitely not what she'd had in mind by thinking of safety in numbers! These two were being complete idiots!

Kuririn was astounded. In all the time he'd fought alongside Bulma, he'd never known her to go so far out of her way to avoid confrontation. If anything, she was usually the one who brought it up. What could it be that made her so terribly afraid of Vegita? It looked as though she was just as anxious around Vegita now as she had been on Namek. It made him really uneasy to see her so obviously terrified, and he wondered if he still wasn't getting the whole story.

"Well," he said finally, crossing his arms and furrowing his eyebrows, "I'm not saying I agree with you completely, but I do think that it's best that we don't go out of our way to annoy Vegita. I mean, let's face facts here. If it came down to just the three of us having to take him on, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"See?!" Bulma cried, flinging her arms up in the air. "That's exactly what I've been saying! Guys, I don't care if Vegita _does_ think he owns this place! He scared the hell outta me on Namek, and he scares me even more here. The very last thing I want in the world is to give that man an excuse to lose his temper, so I'm telling you two right now: leave him alone. I may not be physically capable of kicking him out, but if you two start bothering him, I won't hesitate to kick you out. You're two of my best friends in the whole world, but I won't let you put yourselves and my family in danger simply to satisfy your own suspicions!" With that, she turned on one heel and marched off toward the house.

"Just where do you think you're going?!" Yamucha called after her angrily.

"To change!" Bulma barked back. "I can't very well do my gravity training in a dress, can I?"

- - - - -

Ten minutes later she was in the gravity room working out her frustrations in thirty g's. The nerve of those two! Coming into her house and threatening to disrupt whatever fragile shreds of peace were left! The very thought of it infuriated her. As she punched and kicked the tar out of an imaginary foe, she heard a knock at the door.

Grumbling angrily, Bulma turned off the machine and went to the door to open it. When she did, there were Kuririn and Yamucha, dressed in training gis and looking very determined about something.

"What is it?" Bulma asked impatiently.

"We want to spar with you," Yamucha said. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," Bulma said curtly, "if you think you can handle it, that is. I'm training in thirty g's right now, and I don't intend to slow down for you."

Yamucha glanced at Kuririn, who had lost a little color, but was nodding nonetheless. "All right," he said, looking back at Bulma. "That'll be fine with us."

Bulma nodded and let them in. After she shut the door behind them, she went straight to the machine and turned it on.

"Wow!" Kuririn gasped, lurching forward as the gravity took effect. "You _train_ in this, Bulma?"

Bulma flashed him a grin. "I didn't start out this high," she said, giggling a little as she actually began to forget that she was angry with them. "You'd be surprised at what a great environment this is to build your strength up!"

"It doesn't surprise me in the least," Kuririn said, grunting with the effort of taking a few steps. "This is brutal!"

Yamucha looked a little uncomfortable too. He was only just barely ready for twenty-five, but he did his best to fend off Bulma, while Kuririn just did his best to walk around the room.

"Come on!" Bulma cried in exasperation after the third time she had knocked the wind out of Yamucha. "You're better than this, Yamucha! I want a real match, dammit!"

"Calm down, Bulma!" he groaned, bending over and resting his hands above his knees. "You know I've barely broken twenty. This isn't easy!"

Bulma backed off, panting slightly. "You're kidding!" she said in frustration. "That's the farthest you've gotten? What have you been doing? You should be way past me already!"

Yamucha laughed, and he raised one hand behind his head in embarrassment. "I guess I'm not as dedicated as you. I mean, the world _is_ at peace now, Bulma!"

Bulma just gaped at him. "I can't believe you just said that!" she practically exploded. "One of the first things you ever taught me was that a true martial artist doesn't allow himself to be lulled into laziness by times of peace! What the heck's gotten into you?"

"Yeah, I know I said all that," Yamucha said, looking down at his feet. "But Freeza's gone. The only real threat we have around here nowadays is Vegita, and if you're right about him, then we really don't even have to count him as one. We don't have to be so serious about it, Bulma. It's not like we have another terrible battle coming up or anything."

Bulma puffed up a little. "Well, you can slack off if you want," she said angrily, "but I wanna stay sharp, so I'll be serious. That okay with you?"

Yamucha just shrugged and grinned playfully at her. "I've created a monster," he laughed, walking off to the other side of the room to do some less strenuous exercises.

Bulma sighed. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was overdoing it a bit. All the same, it was the only real means she had for venting her frustrations, this gravity training, and besides, she certainly didn't want to stop improving. Oh well. The heck with him. Frowning, she wiped a little sweat from her face and resumed her training exercises. At the very least, she and Kuririn were going to be a lot stronger before they wished Goku back.

"Hey Bulma!" Kuririn yelled. He was flailing sluggishly on his back across the room. "Do you think maybe we could try it a little lower? I can't even get up in this gravity!"

Bulma groaned and shook her head. She had a feeling that the next few weeks weren't going to be flying by too quickly.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43: Wishing for Goku**

Over the next few weeks, things were fairly peaceful at the Capsule Corporation. True to his word, Vegita pretty much kept to himself and his training, much to everyone's relief. He still had an annoying habit of staring at her whenever she happened to fall into his line of sight, but despite that, Bulma began to relax a little around him, and so did everyone else, excluding perhaps Yamucha and the Nameks, who made no effort to disguise the fact that they absolutely despised him.

As for Bulma, Kuririn, and Yamucha, they continued their training too. Yamucha chose to keep his lackadaisical outlook about the matter, and he didn't really push himself too much. Bulma and Kuririn, on the other hand, trained religiously in Bulma's gravity room. They each took a six-hour shift every day and worked diligently to increase their power. Both of them really had no idea why they wanted to improve so much, although they sometimes figured it had something to do with the fact that Goku would be back soon. Perhaps it just seemed more appropriate that they be in top shape for his arrival. In any event, by the time the dragonballs had become active again, Kuririn had gotten all the way up to thirty g's, while Bulma had reached a whopping forty-five. It was harder than ever nowadays to advance; each time she increased the power on the machine she had an even more difficult time adjusting. She was determined to forge ahead as far as her strength would allow, though. She knew that as long as she stuck with it, she could keep improving, and maybe someday she too would be able to train in a 100g environment like Goku had.

Not surprisingly, Vegita had already surpassed that, having reached an astounding two-hundred and fifty g's! Admittedly, Bulma was very impressed, but as the weeks went by, she found herself becoming increasingly worried about Vegita's rapid improvement in strength and power. It was clear that he was doing his utmost to achieve his goal of surpassing Goku. She hated to let the thought enter her mind, but it had occurred to her on several occasions that he intended to undo their wish to revive Goku as soon as they made it. Unless Goku was training fiercely in Heaven, Bulma feared that Vegita just might make that a reality. It was a disturbing thought, but unfortunately, she had to force it out of her mind. Whether that was Vegita's plan or not, they were going to wish Goku back the first chance they got.

Despite all her apprehensions, the big day finally arrived. On a fine, sunny afternoon, Muuri dropped by the house to tell Bulma that the dragonballs were now active again. Bulma was prepared. She retrieved the box of dragon radars and redistributed them to the hunting parties as she had before. Gohan wasn't able to make it this time - Chichi had told her over the phone that they had enough people searching; Gohan didn't need to waste precious time hunting down dragonballs when he could be studying. It was times like those that made Bulma feel kind of sorry for Gohan. The hunt went on as usual even without him, and it wasn't more than three days before they had gathered them all up and brought them to the Capsule Corporation.

Although he hadn't been allowed to hunt the dragonballs with everyone else, Gohan was allowed to come watch them make the wishes. Not only that, Chichi and Gyuu-mao came too. Bulma understood. Gohan's studies were important to Chichi, but Goku was too.

They weren't the only guests, though, and they certainly weren't the most surprising. The turtle hermit and Oolong had made the trip over, and Piccolo had come too. Even Vegita was there, although Bulma wasn't too surprised by that. She figured she knew why he wanted to be present for the wishes.

"So, you want to do the honors this time, Muuri?" Bulma asked, smiling at him. "I got to call Porunga last time."

"Go ahead and do it again," Muuri said, smiling back. "Who knows when you'll get another chance? Besides, I like to hear you speak our language."

"All right then," Bulma said, glancing happily at Gohan, who beamed excitedly back at her. "Here we go!"

She held her hands out over the dragonballs and called out the phrase that she'd been dying to say. "Takkaratto Po Porunga Pupiritto Paro!" she cried, after everyone was ready. The dragonballs glowed brightly for a second or two before Porunga suddenly burst forth, and in a matter of seconds he was towering over them. Bulma heard Chichi and her father gasp at Porunga. This was their first glimpse of the great Namek dragon, and it certainly had surprised them!

"Greetings, mortals," Porunga rumbled at them. "To thee I shall grant three wishes and no more. What is thy first request?"

Bulma grinned. "O Porunga," she called out. "Our first wish is for you to bring Son Goku back from the dead and bring him here to us!"

Porunga's eyes narrowed. "I cannot," he said after a short pause.

"Huh?" Bulma said.

"The man of which you speak is still alive," Porunga rumbled. "I cannot revive a living man."

"What?" Bulma gasped, along with everyone else. "Alive? He's alive? Well... okay then," she said, shrugging, and looking back up at Porunga. "In that case, please bring him here to us then!"

"He wishes to remain in his current location," Porunga replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "He told me to inform you that he will return soon on his own but he is unwilling to return now." Porunga sounded less than pleased to have to pass Goku's message on to them. Perhaps he didn't think wish-granting dragons were supposed to deliver messages.

"Why in heaven's name would Goku not want to come back?" Bulma asked herself aloud, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow in consternation.

"I'll tell you why," Vegita said, grinding his teeth angrily. "It's because the coward knows I'm here waiting for him!"

"Oh, get over yourself, Vegita," Bulma grumbled crossly. "Goku's more afraid of his wife than he is of you. In fact, I'm almost certain that he'd jump all over the chance to try his luck in a match with you. But that doesn't explain why he isn't coming. Oh well," she sighed. "Muuri, I guess that just leaves my wishes for your people. Are you ready to go to your new home?"

"We're ready," he said, "but that will only take two wishes! You still have the third to make, and since Porunga will disappear with us when we go, you should save our wishes for last. Go on and think of something else you'd like to wish for."

"Oh," Bulma said, a bit surprised that she hadn't noticed that. "Well, gee, I don't need anything. Would anyone care to offer me their wish?"

At first, no one said anything. Then Vegita was the first to speak.

"I'm sure you know what I would wish for," he said, grinning fiendishly at her.

"And I know you're not getting it, either!" Bulma snapped. "Sorry, pal; I'm not making any immortality wishes today!"

"You could always wish for a pretty girl for me," Muten Roshi offered. "The clothes would be optional, of course!"

Bulma thwonked him on the head. "Anyone else care to make any perverted wishes?" she asked, glaring first at her father, and then at Oolong, who both turned their heads away quickly to avoid her angry glare.

"Ooh, I have a great idea!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed suddenly, clapping her hands. She leaned forward and whispered something excitedly in Bulma's ear, and Bulma laughed almost immediately.

"That's marvelous!" she cried. "What an idea, Mom!"

"Porunga!" she cried. "My first wish is for you to create a new planet Namek, along with a corresponding star system similar to the old one, so that the Namek people can rebuild their civilization there!"

Porunga's eyes glowed red for several seconds, and finally he growled, seemingly satisfied. "It has been done. What is thy second wish?" he asked.

"Bulma!" Muuri cried. "What are you doing?"

Bulma smiled mysteriously. "Porunga!" she cried. "My second wish is for you to give little Dende limited powers of telepathy, so that if he or his people are ever in danger, he'll be able to tell us!"

The Nameks gasped, and Porunga's eyes narrowed. Dende suddenly began to glow with an odd white light.

"Whoa!" he cried, grabbing his head. "That tickles!"

"Dende," Bulma said. "I need to try something, all right?"

"Okay," Dende replied, relaxing a bit.

"I'm going to think something," she said, "and I want you to tell me what I'm thinking."

"Okay," Dende said. "I'm ready when you are, Bulma."

Bulma nodded. "Here goes," she said. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all extraneous activity. "Can you read this?" she thought as clearly as she could.

"Well?" Dende said after a short pause. "Aren't you going to think something yet?"

"Whew," Bulma sighed. "Good. That means that Porunga understood what I meant by 'limited.' All right, Dende; now you try thinking something at me, okay?"

Right away Dende's voice popped into her head. "Can you hear me?" it said.

"Loud and clear," Bulma said, beaming at him. "This is exactly what I wanted. You guys have a wonderfully clever dragon!"

"What did you do?" Gohan asked. Bulma smiled at him in apology. She had forgotten that everyone but her, the Nameks, and her mother was clueless as to what she had told Porunga.

"I told Porunga to give Dende limited powers of telepathy," Bulma explained. "I wanted him to be able to contact us if the Nameks ever happened to need our help. Anyway, Porunga did exactly what I wanted. I wanted Dende to be able to contact other people with his thoughts, but I didn't want him to have the ability to read minds. Basically, he has one-way telepathy now," she finished, giving him a playful knock on the head.

Dende laughed. "Why didn't you want me to read minds, Bulma?" he asked her curiously.

"That was quick thinking, I must say," Dr. Briefs said, nodding. "It wouldn't be a pleasant thing to know what others are thinking about you all the time, and it would be a rather bad invasion of privacy too."

"Oh," Dende said, nodding. "I see."

"Oh, I'm glad you thought of that part, dear," Mrs. Briefs laughed, waving her hand at her. "It might have turned out to be a bad wish if you'd done it my way!"

"It was a great idea, Mom," Bulma said, beaming at her. "I'm glad you thought of it."

Muuri sighed. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," he said, stepping forward and shaking Bulma's hand, as well as those of her parents. "We're all going to miss you so much!"

"I know I'll miss you all too," Bulma said, giving Dende one last hug. "Capsule Corp's going to be awfully empty without you."

"Oh my, yes," Mrs. Briefs said softly, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"We're eternally grateful for all your kindness," Muuri said, his eyes having begun to tear up a little too, "and we hope to see you all again someday. Please come visit us!"

Bulma glanced at Kuririn and Gohan, who both grinned at her. "You can bet on it!" she exclaimed, looking back at him. "Why don't you make the wish, Muuri? I'd really rather not this time."

Muuri smiled. "All right," he said, turning back around toward Porunga. He said the words, and they soon began to disappear, every one of them waving furiously, with eyes full of tears.

Everyone else stayed where they were for a few seconds, silently staring up at the place where Porunga had been. Finally, Dr. Briefs sighed.

"Well, I suppose I'll get back to work on the ship then," he said sadly. "I really would have liked to fly them around in it tomorrow, but I guess It's out of the question now."

"Oh, is your new prototype spaceship nearly done already?" Bulma asked rather disinterestedly.

"Yes, it's all fueled up and ready for its maiden voyage," Dr. Briefs replied. "I still have to install the CD player, and I need to restock the beer in the fridge, but other than that, it's all ready to go."

"What?" Vegita cried suddenly. "That thing is finished already? And it's already been supplied with food?"

"Yep," Dr. Briefs said proudly. "Finished this morning."

Vegita grinned an evil grin, and right away Bulma realized what was going on in his devious little mind. "Imagine that," he said, balling his hands into fists. "What a stroke of luck!" Without so much as another word, he took off like lightning toward Dr. Briefs' workshop.

"Dammit, Vegita!" Bulma yelled, taking off after him and quickly leaving the others behind her, who still hadn't caught on to what was happening. "You'd better not be thinking about stealing my dad's ship!"

Vegita laughed gleefully back at her. "I'm long past the thinking stage by now, you foolish female!" he shouted back. "I've had my eye on this thing ever since I first saw it, and now that I know that coward Kakarrot is still alive and out there just waiting for me to slaughter him, I refuse to waste another minute waiting for him on this backwater planet!"

They had reached the ship by now, which was standing like an enormous white ball next to her father's workshop building. Vegita went straight for the entry hatch, but Bulma teleported there ahead of him and kicked him away from it in mid-teleport. She let time flow again and stood her ground up on the platform, guarding the entrance to the ship as if it were her own child. Vegita fell awkwardly to the ground, but he was soon up again, seemingly unsurprised and unconcerned by this turn of events. He quickly leapt back up to the platform, and was soon less than a few feet away from her.

"Get your worthless carcass away from my dad's ship," she hissed at him furiously. "He certainly didn't build this thing to fly the likes of you around the universe on a quest to get your ass kicked by Goku again. I'm not letting you destroy all his months of work for that either, so back off, you inconsiderate jerk!"

Vegita grinned, and in one swift, effortless movement, he darted forward and pinned her wrists to the door. Bulma growled savagely as she struggled and kicked violently at him, purposely avoiding his gaze with her eyes. He chuckled as he held her firmly against the ship, and he leaned in more closely to her, until his face was nearly touching hers. Bulma's fury quickly began to ebb off in the wake of anxiety and a deeply chilling fear. Yet again she had found herself at the unpredictable Saiyan's mercy, and she did not like it one bit.

"When are you going to learn that you can't stop me from getting what I want?" he asked her softly, his eyes trapping hers in their inescapable gaze. Bulma bared her teeth at him in an effort to conceal her fear and discomfort at being rendered so helpless. She had to keep calm and think of a plausible strategy to win. She knew enough by now to realize that he was far too dangerous to show him any form of weakness to exploit.

"Don't worry too much about the ship, if that's really what you're so concerned about," Vegita said suddenly, his face adopting a slightly more serious expression. "It - and I - won't be gone forever. Once I find that fool and dispose of him, I'll come back to share the good news with you and your little friends. Then we'll just see who runs the show around here."

Bulma glared fiercely at him, struggling mightily against the unease and despair that threatened to rob her of her will to resist. All at once he did something so unexpected - so incredibly surprising - that she never could have anticipated it. Wrapping one arm around her waist and cupping the back of her head in his other hand, he pulled her body against his and pressed his lips to hers.

Bulma was so totally taken off guard by what he was doing that at first, it never even occurred to her to struggle against him. He held her firmly in his arms and kissed her for a good fifteen seconds while she simply stood there, her arms limp at her sides and her eyes wide with surprise and increasingly building fear. He had closed his eyes, and he seemed to be completely at ease in this activity, while Bulma was growing increasingly more frightened as the seconds ticked by.

After what seemed like an eternity, they had begun to hear loud voices approaching them from where they'd left the others. Vegita finally let her go and stepped back a couple of feet, shooting her a smirk of satisfied triumph.

Bulma's heart was pounding wildly, and her cheeks were burning. She had backed herself flat up against the side of the ship in an effort to get herself as far away from him as she could, which, unfortunately, was far closer to him than she would have liked. She lifted a shaking arm to push him farther away from her.

"S-stay away f-from me!" she stammered, trying unsuccessfully to push him back with her trembling hand. Her mind was a whirlwind of emotion – with fear and confusion ruling most of the others. Why had he done something so strange? The raw fury of her emotional turmoil had brought fresh, stinging tears to her eyes, and as she stared at Vegita through the warping film of water before her eyes, she wanted nothing more than to see him disappear in a puff of smoke. No one should have been able to kiss her like that without her permission. How could he have done such a thing to her, and with such ease?

Suddenly Vegita shot her an evil grin. "As you wish," he said, and he grabbed her outstretched arm with both hands. Just as Yamucha, Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan led the pack around the corner of the workshop, Vegita used his grip on Bulma's arm to fling her at them, and as she crashed into the surprised group of pursuers, he ducked inside the ship.

As Bulma and the others disentangled themselves from each other, they all got to their feet and began rushing for the ship, but its engines fired up before they reached it, and it blasted toward the stratosphere. Yamucha's chi flared in his frustration, and he charged up for a blast.

"Damn him!" he cried. "I'll shoot him out of the sky! So-ki-..."

"No, Yamucha don't!" Bulma shrieked, jumping in the way. "Are you crazy? You'll fry Dad's ship! Just let him go! Maybe his leaving isn't such a bad thing after all. If he's out there in space, we won't have to deal with him. I just hope Goku's stronger than he is, because Vegita intends to kill him when he sees him." She was still trembling a little, and her face was still very pale. Yamucha stared at her with a strange look of concern, and he allowed his chi to level out and calm.

Dr. Briefs shrugged. "Well, it serves the boy right if he suffers from lack of music and beer. Impatient boy indeed, that Vegita."

"Er... right," Bulma said, laughing feebly. "That'll teach 'im, Dad!"

"Well, now what do we do?" Kuririn asked. "Just wait around here for Goku to come back?"

"Or for Vegita to return and tell us he's killed him?" Bulma muttered quietly to herself.

"I'm going back home with Gohan," Chichi said firmly. "My boy can't neglect his studies just to wait for his ridiculous father to get back to Earth. Besides, Goku said he'll be home soon, so he will."

"You mean he will if he knows what's good for him, right Chichi?" Yamucha laughed.

Everyone, excluding Piccolo and Bulma, laughed good-naturedly at his statement, and after that, things just kind of broke up. Gohan, Chichi, and Gyuu-mao drove off for Mt. Paozu. Piccolo flew off to wherever it was he went, and the turtle hermit and Oolong took off in an air car for the Kame House. Kuririn opted to stay behind with Bulma and Yamucha, so aside from Puar and Bulma's family, the three fighters were the last ones left.

Bulma hadn't talked much throughout all of this, which Yamucha noticed after only a short while. He asked her if anything was the matter, but she quickly avoided his question by changing the subject. The last thing she wanted to tell anybody, much less Yamucha, was that Vegita had kissed her. Bulma was too upset and confused by what had happened to join them for a sparring match later that night, so she instead made up an excuse about her being too tired and that she wanted to go to bed early. They seemed to be okay enough with that, although Yamucha gave her a funny look. It made her rather angry to see him do that. Like her mother, Yamucha had somehow always been able to tell when she was being less than honest with him.

Bulma had a hard time sleeping that night. Even though she really was tired, she kept seeing Vegita looming over her whenever she closed her eyes. Sleep did eventually find her though, just as the sun was about to rise the next morning.

When she finally trudged down the stairs at about ten o'clock that morning, she found everyone disgustingly chipper and happy. Grumbling angrily when her mother had told her to 'turn her frown upside-down,' she shuffled outside to do her morning exercises. Bulma woke up a little more when the effects of forty-seven g's hit her, and before long, she was feeling much better.

She found Yamucha waiting for her outside the door when she had finished, and she eyed him curiously when she noticed the stern expression on his face. "Is something wrong?" she asked him, mopping her face with a towel.

"We have to talk," he said, herding her back into the gravity room and shutting the door.

"Okay," Bulma said, frowning a little at his blunt methods. "You don't have to push, Yamucha! So what's the matter?"

"You tell me," he demanded angrily. "I want to know what happened to you yesterday. You've been acting weird ever since Vegita left. I've never known you to pass up a sparring match like that, and besides, I saw the look on your face after Vegita threw you at us yesterday. He did something to you, and I want to know what it is!"

Bulma turned away from him. "I didn't want to tell you," she said quietly, drawing her arms in closer and cupping her elbows in her hands. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to."

"Well you do," Yamucha said, crossing his arms and glaring at her. "I demand to know. What happened?"

Bulma sighed. "You know, it's not really necessary," she said hopefully. "Vegita's gone now, and I just know you'll overreact to it. You and will I both be better off if I don't say anything."

"He didn't have time to do much," Yamucha said darkly, "but whatever it was, it's definitely got you acting strangely. It would take something really bad to make you act this out of the ordinary, Bulma, and I want to know what it is. I'm not leaving until you tell me," he added firmly.

"Fine!" Bulma snapped angrily, balling her hands into fists and clenching her teeth. "You really want to know so badly? Then I'll tell you! He kissed me, Yamucha! He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me like it was the most natural thing in the world! There! Are you satisfied now? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for me to tell you this?" She was blushing furiously, but she whirled around anyway to glare at him as fiercely as she could. She was too startled by what she saw to glare at him for long, however.

Yamucha's face had gone ashen gray, and it was contorted into one of the strangest expressions Bulma had ever seen on him. She thought he was going to have a stroke or something. "What?" she asked worriedly. "Are you okay, Yamucha?"

"That conniving brute!" Yamucha croaked. He was livid with anger. "He's going to pay dearly for that! If he ever dares show himself around here again, I'll make him sorry he ever set foot on our planet!"

Bulma had heard enough. She marched forward and slapped him in the face. He stopped spitting fire then, and he gaped at her in astonishment. "What was that for?" he demanded angrily.

"It was for doing exactly what I knew you'd do!" Bulma shouted in his face. "Threatening to wage a ridiculous war with that deranged Saiyan, simply because you feel like you need to defend my honor or something stupid like that! I'm not some damsel in distress for you to defend, idiot! If I mess up, it's my own damn fault, and what happened yesterday was nobody's fault but my own. I gave that psycho the opportunity, so of course he jumped on it. I'm sick of this, Yamucha! You've been sneaking around here trying to catch Vegita in the act of some unnamed mayhem, and the moment he goes and does something objectionable, you decide to get all tough and macho. Well, enough's enough! Vegita's gone for good, all right? Just leave it at that. I'm ecstatic to see him go, and I'd like to just forget about him. You've no reason to make such threats around here, so cut it out, Yamucha! You're fighting a battle you've already lost!" She then whirled back around and began marching toward the door. She hadn't gone two steps before Yamucha grabbed one of her arms from behind and forced her to turn around and look at him. She glared angrily first at the hand that was clamped on her arm, and then at his face.

"Let go of my arm, Yamucha," she growled in a soft, very menacing tone.

"Now you listen to me!" Yamucha said loudly, ignoring her demand and instead gripping her arm more tightly. "You may have been oblivious to this for months, but I sure as hell haven't! I don't mind the fact that you're a little indignant about my wanting to protect you, Bulma, but I had damn good reason to keep my eye on that bastard, and yesterday proves it!"

"What, that Vegita was planning to shoot off into space?" Bulma laughed angrily. "Oh, Heaven help us! Hide all the women and children, because Vegita's going to leave us! That fiend!"

"Listen to me, dammit!" Yamucha shouted in exasperation. "It's not the fact that he shot off into space that has me so upset, and you know it! The reason I'm so angry is because he kissed you! Bulma, I'm trying to tell you that Vegita had a reason for doing that! I'm absolutely positive that he's got some kind of perverted fixation on you! I've seen the way he looks at you, and I know you've seen it too. Why can't you at least admit that there's more to the things he's done to you than simple anti-human sentiment?"

Bulma went a little pale as cold fear crept into the recesses of her mind. That thought had never occurred to her. What if Yamucha was right? Vegita did have that disturbing habit of watching her all the time, but surely that didn't mean he... She was halfway convinced when all at once a clear, sensible thought leapt into her mind.

"You're out've your gourd," she retorted with a dry laugh. "The reason Vegita kissed me yesterday wasn't anything of the sort! He did that to lower my guard so that he could get me away from the hatch on Dad's ship. I have to hand it to the shameless bastard; he certainly accomplished his goal! I was so dumbstruck that I practically put my arm in his hands for him! I'll give him this much; that was a damned effective tactic."

"Oh, the hell with it!" Yamucha said disgustedly. "I give up! You believe what you want, then. I just hope you're right, and that lowlife doesn't come back, because if he does, I'll either kill him or die trying. If Vegita attacks you again, there's no telling how far he'll go. He's capable of doing a lot more to you than kiss you, Bulma. If you keep denying the obvious like this, then sooner or later he's liable to force himself on you, and you'll be completely unable to stop him!"

"That's enough!" Bulma yelled furiously, yanking her arm out of his grip and throwing the door open. "Get out! And don't you dare say such a thing to me again, or I'll knock you into next week!"

Yamucha only had to look at her face once to realize that she meant it. Grumbling something unintelligible about bull-headed women, he stomped out of the gravity room, slamming the door behind him.

Bulma was furious. How dare he suggest such a ridiculous notion to her! Vegita hated all humans, and she was certainly no exception! Yamucha was just being his usual annoying, paranoid self. She couldn't believe that he'd let himself read so much into that one kiss. That overprotective dope!

Sighing angrily, she left the gravity room in a huff, also slamming the door behind her. Men! The whole lot of them could just take a hike, for all she cared. She'd had her fill of them!


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Freeza's (Brief) Return**

Over the next few months, Bulma and Yamucha gradually returned to the point of speaking to each other again. They were equally stubborn about most things, though, so naturally, it took them a while to get over their anger. Nevertheless, things eventually returned to normal, and they, along with Kuririn, resumed their training together.

Training wasn't all the trio did together, though. They went out quite often - all three of them - to the city for various types of entertainment. They mostly went out at night, and they did what people their age usually liked to do for fun: they went to clubs, danced, watched movies, and did other kinds of "normal" entertaining activities. They visited singles' bars a lot too, since Bulma and Yamucha had secretly made a pact with each other to find Kuririn a steady girlfriend. They thought they'd been successful on several occasions, but unfortunately, Kuririn never seemed to stay attached to any girl for very long. They just couldn't seem to find the right ones. Bulma decided after a while that Kuririn was either doomed to perpetual bachelorhood, was too afraid of girls to settle down with one, or she and Yamucha just hadn't chosen the right type of girl.

At any rate, they still had loads of fun going out and doing things, just the three of them. Perhaps the most memorable of the activities they'd done - if not the most pleasant - was their brief stint with a karaoke bar in the heart of the city. They had decided after only one of Kuririn's songs that they would _never_ do that again. Even after several drinks, that awful singing voice of his hadn't sounded any better.

All in all, things all over Capsule Corporation were beginning to return to normal. A nice, quiet peace had settled all over the compound, and everyone was happy, that is, until the day Vegita came back. The blissful peace that had made its home at Capsule Corp. vanished the very moment Vegita's ship landed outside the workshop.

Bulma was inside the workshop helping her dad with his latest invention – robotic construction drones, or Constructo-Bots, as he called them – when it happened. She suddenly caught the ping of a familiar chi signature in her mind, and her face snapped upward as she dropped the hammer she'd been holding in her astonishment. The same hammer then landed head-down on her father's foot, causing him to yell out in pain.

"It can't be!" Bulma cried, oblivious to her father and the damage she'd just done to his poor foot. She ran out the door to look up at the sky, while Dr. Briefs hopped out on one foot after her, complaining loudly and angrily about her carelessness. He quite forgot his bruised toes when he noticed what had caused his daughter to run out the door.

"Well, look at that!" he cried as the ship shot down from the sky. "Vegita's back already! How very strange! I expected him to be out longer than this, considering he still ought to have a good two weeks' worth of fuel left. Ah well. At least the ship's still in one piece. I've no right to complain, I suppose." Chuckling good-naturedly, he limped back into the lab, leaving his dumbstruck daughter outside to watch on helplessly as the ship made its final approach for a landing.

Bulma was horrified, to say the least. The fact that Vegita was back early could only mean one thing: that he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. He'd killed Goku, and now he was returning to gloat about it. She gulped as she wondered what life would be like around here without the possibility of Goku's coming back to fix things. Vegita would most definitely make good on his threat of showing "just who was boss" around here if he had indeed done away with Goku already.

Bulma suddenly went pale, because, as the ship made touchdown in front of her, she sensed someone approaching from behind. She spun around as she realized who was coming quickly toward her from the other side of the compound. Yamucha! She could definitely sense him coming, and she could tell by the ferocity of his chi signature that he was boiling mad! She watched on helplessly as he sped up to her, his teeth bared and his chi flaring.

"I knew it!" Yamucha growled as he skidded to a stop next to Bulma. "That freak _has_ come back, hasn't he? Well, it's the last mistake he'll ever make!"

Bulma didn't have time to protest before the hatch opened and Vegita sauntered out. She and Yamucha watched in silence as Vegita strode down the ramp and stopped at the bottom to glare at them.

"Where is Kakarrot?" he demanded icily.

"What?" Bulma asked in surprise. "You mean you didn't find him? I thought you'd come back because you'd already found him and... killed..." Her voice trailed off as he shot her a terrible glare of fury, as if she'd somehow deeply insulted him.

"Damn him!" Vegita spat, balling his hands into fists. "The fool thinks he's lost me already! Fine! I'll just wait for him here, then. For all he knows, I'm still out there on that wild goose chase he set up for me to follow! Feh!" He then looked down at Bulma and Yamucha and smirked evilly. "You have no objections to my waiting here for him, I assume," he said in a rather snide tone, obviously sure that neither would dare oppose him.

"You assume wrong!" Yamucha yelled vehemently, cutting Bulma off, who was just about to reply. "You're not welcome here, Saiyan!"

"Do you care to say that from a lesser distance, weakling?" Vegita asked him with disdain.

"Anytime!" Yamucha growled. He made a flying leap at Vegita, but Bulma pulled him back by one leg and kicked him violently in the side.

"Knock it off!" she barked at him. "You don't make those decisions around here, Yamucha! Stop causing trouble!"

"I refuse to stay here while he does!" Yamucha exploded at her, leaping to his feet and getting right up in her face.

"Then leave!" Bulma spat at him, matching his angry glare with her own. "I won't have you causing problems and getting yourself killed! I've already told you that! Now get lost before I really get mad!"

Yamucha had known Bulma too long to make the mistake of arguing the point any further. Still, he yelled one last angry warning at her before he flew quickly out of sight.

"Fine!" he shouted angrily. "It's all on your head, then! If he tries something, you'll have no one to blame but yourself!"

Bulma just ignored him and glared at Vegita. Her jaw was set, and she was ready. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Well, well," Vegita said with a coy grin. "I didn't think you preferred my company _that_ much! I must say, I'm flattered!"

"I don't want to hear a word out of you, either, Vegita!" she blew up at him. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after stealing my dad's ship! I ought to kill you myself!"

"You're welcome to try," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up, you slimeball!" she growled. "I'm angry, but I'm not stupid, okay?" He just smirked at that. "Listen," she sighed angrily, shaking her head. "Everything's the same as it was before, all right? You have your gravity room and your living quarters, but I don't want to hear about you causing problems around here. I may not have the ability to punish you for any transgressions you may commit, but you can bet that Goku can and will, when he gets back. I can promise you now that he won't take it lightly if he returns to find one or more of his friends was killed in an ego fight with you. You get my drift?"

Vegita smirked at her. "I do whatever I damn well please," he said, smiling more broadly at the effect this statement had on her expression. "If you can't handle it, you're more than welcome to try your hand at changing my mind. Oh, and your little 'Yamucha' is getting on my bad side in a hurry. He'd better learn his place soon, or else he'll suffer the consequences. As for you," he added, raising his nose haughtily at her, "you might consider showing me a little more respect as well. I refuse to be told how to behave from anyone, much less a shrill, frivolous Earth woman, so kindly keep that in mind from now on when you speak to me. You get my drift?" he said, mocking her last comment and sneering at her.

"You unbelievable bastard!" Bulma said in astonishment. "What in Heaven's name makes you think I should show _you_ any kind of respect?! Oh, and don't you dare hand me that crap about your being the prince of the Saiyans! Being the prince of an extinguished race of barbarians in no way makes you lord over me in my own home! You can take your respect _and_ your ego and shove 'em both up your princely ass, for all I care! I may be stuck with you until Goku comes back, but that doesn't mean I have to grovel at your feet like some kind of pathetic urchin. Now get the hell out of my sight!"

Vegita smirked and took a few steps closer to her. "If you won't respect my lineage," he said, drawing dangerously near to her, "then maybe you ought to respect the fact that I could kill you in less time than it would take for you to bat an eyelash."

Bulma stood her ground. "You don't scare me," she said defiantly, glaring at him with contempt.

Vegita's smile faded slightly and he snorted. "I don't believe _that_ for a moment," he murmured, locking her eyes with his.

Bulma wasn't about to let him do this to her again; she immediately turned her head away. "Stop it," she said quietly. "I hate it when you stare at me like that. I don't care if you _can_ kill me; I won't have you causing trouble any more than I'll tolerate Yamucha doing the same. You two don't have to like each other. Hell, you don't even have to get along. Just the same, I'd better not see any more than dirty looks going on between you two, or I'll make both your lives a living hell! Now get the hell outta my face!" she shouted, snapping her face back around to glare at him again.

Not surprisingly, Vegita didn't move. "Make me," he said, the flash in his eyes confirming the challenge she heard in his words.

Ignoring her sense of reason for a moment, Bulma sneered and took him up on it. "As you wish," she hissed, repeating the last phrase he had said to her before he'd left. Without warning, she stopped time and kicked him effortlessly to the side. She then let time flow again and watched coldly as Vegita stumbled awkwardly in an effort to regain his balance. He shot her a seething glare, obviously having forgotten about the possibility of Bulma's stopping time to move him. Growling angrily, he stood upright and balled his hands into fists.

"You're walking on thin ice, woman!" he growled at her.

"Whatever," she said coolly, turning around and walking back toward the workshop. "You're the one who told me to make you move."

"Where the hell are you going?" Vegita yelled. "I'm not finished with you yet, dammit!"

"Well, I've had my fill of _you_," she shot back, waving at him with her back to him. "Let me know if you figure out how to be something other than an asshole. Until you do, I'll have no desire to say a word to you." Then, without leaving him an opportunity to retort, she walked into the workshop and slammed the door shut behind her.

He stood in place for a few moments, as a slight smirk of amusement tugged at his lips. Without another word, he turned and flew off toward his capsule house to recuperate. It had been a long journey, and as much as he hated it, he was going to have to break down and rest for a while before he resumed his training.

- - - - -

The next two weeks were a living hell for Bulma. Yamucha refused to speak to her after the way she'd yelled at him for picking a fight with Vegita, but that was neither abnormal nor unexpected. Yamucha was given to fits of childish silence whenever he didn't get his way, and Bulma was used to it after all the years she'd been friends with him. That she could handle.

Kuririn had decided to go back to the Kame house not long after Vegita had returned, mumbling some garbage about a disciple's commitment to his sensei. Bulma knew full well that the only commitment Kuririn had on his mind was his commitment to self-preservation, but she couldn't blame him for being edgy around Vegita. The Saiyan jerk was as cranky and belligerent as ever nowadays, and he had shot unwarranted threats at Kuririn on several occasions since his arrival. Even though Bulma would miss having Kuririn around, she understood. At least all the ridiculous messages the old pervert was leaving him on the machine every day would stop. Kuririn's leaving was kind of sad, but it could have been worse, and that Bulma could live with as well.

The only thing she was seriously having trouble living with was Vegita's presence in her life. He was the real reason for her anxiety during the two weeks following his return to Capsule Corporation. Oh, she'd been fierce enough with him when he'd landed, but the simple fact of the matter was that she was more terrified of him now than she'd ever been. She had sensed his increase in strength the moment he'd stepped off the ramp of the ship, but even that wasn't the entire reason she broke out into a cold sweat when he was nearby. That was only a slight factor. The largest part of her apprehensions was derived from the sensation she felt whenever his eyes happened to fall on her. She could always tell when he was watching her, because she'd get this cold shiver all throughout her body just before she sensed him, and Vegita seemed to be watching her a bit more than usual nowadays, although Bulma made a fierce effort to convince herself that she was either just imagining that, or that he was doing the same thing to everyone else. After all, she didn't have anything he wanted, did she? There was certainly no reason for him to be singling her out, now was there?

Regardless of how many times she had reminded herself of this, she still found herself on the brink of terror every time she turned around to find his piercing gaze directed at her. Her psyche wasn't the only thing that suffered from this anxiety; she was wearing herself out physically too. She wasn't eating regularly, and her sleep was so riddled with terrifying dreams that she wasn't getting enough rest either. Bulma was a nervous wreck, and everyone around Capsule Corporation knew it but couldn't figure out why. Her parents had done everything they could think of for her, but they had no idea what was troubling their daughter, and she certainly wasn't offering them any clues. The only person who seemed unconcerned about her was Vegita, but he never showed concern for anything. Even Yamucha, who still wasn't speaking to her, had confided in Mrs. Briefs that he was very worried about Bulma.

Bulma kept up her training regimen throughout all of this, despite the slow deterioration of her strength. She refused to let up on her training, even if it meant she had to take shorter sessions. They helped to relax her, and they took her mind off of things. Sometimes she spent entire days in her gravity room, collapsing into a fitful sleep after an exhausting session. Suffice it to say, Bulma had grown abnormally pale and thin during the past couple of weeks.

No one had really considered the possibility of what would happen should a truly powerful enemy ever emerge to challenge them. Sure enough, one did, and no one - not even the mighty Vegita - was ready for him.

It happened while Bulma was in the gravity room one morning, only an hour into her routine. She couldn't believe her senses when an all-too-familiar chi signature slammed into her brain from straight up.

"Oh God!" she cried, feeling a wave of nausea wash over her as the sheer enormity of the power she was sensing hit her like a fist in the pit of her stomach. She had to steady herself a bit before she could turn off the gravity machine and rush outside. Strangely enough, her first impulse was to go find Vegita. She didn't even stop to think about what she was doing; she simply acted on her instincts and made a beeline for his gravity room.

"Vegita!" she cried when she had turned on the vidcam outside. "Turn off the machine and get out here quick! Freeza's alive, and he's headed for Earth!"

Vegita had been doing push-ups when she turned on the vidcam, but his head snapped up immediately at her words, and he stared at her panicked, nearly hysterical expression with a look that couldn't have been mistaken for anything but disbelief. He must have focused his senses then, because a look of pure horror washed over his face, and he slowly stood upright. He did as she asked, and upon stepping outside, he looked up at the sky, his expression pale and grim.

"He's not far off," he said quietly.

"No he isn't," Bulma agreed, her apprehension more than obvious in her voice, "and he's definitely heading for Earth. I'd say we have less than an hour before he gets here."

Vegita bared his teeth. "Damn that Kakarrot!" he spat viciously. "So he let Freeza escape after all! The damned fool!"

"Even so," Bulma said as her expression hardened, "blaming him isn't going to help us. Goku isn't here to clean up this mess; Freeza is _our_ problem now, and it's up to us to deal with him. I'm going to go call Kuririn and Gohan; we'll need everyone's help for this. Maybe I can even find Tenshinhan and Piccolo."

"Fine," Vegita said, looking angrily down at his fists. "We won't know for a while yet just where Freeza will land. You Earthlings can come, but don't you dare get in my way!" He then shot off into the sky and flew away at top speed.

Bulma didn't even hesitate to react to Vegita's remark. She took off for the house, and when she raced in through the kitchen door and rushed to the phone, she found that her mother already had it in hand.

"Oh, wait a minute, Kuririn," she said. "She just came in. Here she is." She held the phone out to Bulma with a worried look on her face.

"It's Kuririn," she whispered. "He says it's important!"

"He's right," Bulma said grimly, taking the receiver from her. "Can you feel him too, Kuririn?" she asked him anxiously. "It's _him_, isn't it? I'd know that bastard's chi anywhere. I can't believe he's still alive!"

"I know," Kuririn said angrily. "And here we thought Goku had finished him. He could have, with as much power as he had."

"We have to get a hold of Gohan," Bulma said. "We'll need his help."

"Already done," Kuririn replied. "I called him first. He's on his way out to your house as we speak. I'll leave to meet you there too when I hang up."

"What about Tenshinhan and Piccolo?" Bulma asked. "We need to get everybody we can to help with this. He's gotten a lot stronger, Kuririn; I can feel it."

"I know," Kuririn said grimly. "I can feel it too. Don't worry about Piccolo, or Tenshinhan, for that matter. I have a feeling they'll both show up when they sense what's coming, if they haven't already."

Bulma sighed. "Okay," she said. "Come on over, then. I'll meet you outside the house, and I'll have Yamucha with me too. Vegita will meet us at the battlesite. He's already gone out to wait, although even he's not sure where Freeza will land yet, I daresay."

"Okay," Kuririn said. "I'll come as quick as I can. Bye!" He hung up the phone, and Bulma did the same.

"What's happening?" Mrs. Briefs asked anxiously.

"It's Freeza, Mom," Bulma replied with a tired sigh. "He's heading straight for Earth."

Mrs. Briefs gasped. "He's the one you told me about, isn't he?" she asked anxiously. "Isn't he the one who...?" Her voice trailed off as she found herself unable to finish her question.

"That's right," Bulma replied with a grim scowl. "He's the one who killed me."

"And you're going to fight with _him_?!" her mother exclaimed, her face turning very pale.

"I have no choice," Bulma muttered, "but at least I'm not alone. All of us will be there. I only wish Goku was included in that. If he were here, we wouldn't even have to fight. He could take care of Freeza single-handedly, I'm sure."

"Oh, Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs wailed, flinging herself at her daughter and wrapping her arms tightly around her neck. "You can't do this! I don't know what your father and I would do if we lost you a second time! It was bad enough the first time when we didn't find out until after you'd been wished back!"

"Hey, don't worry, Mom!" Bulma cried, trying to sound cheerful. "We've all gotten a lot stronger, especially Vegita! And even he's on our side now, so we can't possibly lose! Don't worry; I'm sure we can handle it!"

Mrs. Briefs nodded, her face brightening a bit when Bulma mentioned Vegita. "I'm going to keep that as your promise," she said firmly, drying her eyes and letting go of Bulma.

"You've got it," Bulma said, with a wide smile to mask the worry that plagued her. She didn't have the heart to tell her mother that Freeza had definitely gotten stronger himself. She could sense an incredible new level of power in him, and she truly dreaded this fight. It wasn't going to be easy; in fact, it was going to be damned near impossible. Freeza had been too tough to handle on Namek, and he was much worse now. It all pretty much depended on how much Vegita had improved, and Bulma very much doubted that Vegita could handle the old Freeza now, much less the one that was at this moment less than an hour away from Earth. Despite these worrisome thoughts, Bulma smiled reassuringly at her mother one more time before she went out the door to go get Yamucha.

Yamucha was on his way to the house when Bulma ran into him. He didn't look worried at all. In fact, he was smiling broadly about something - that is, until he saw Bulma. He scowled petulantly when he saw her, and he immediately turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Bulma cried. "What's the matter with you? Can't you sense him yet? We don't have time for you to get over your childish silent treatment, Yamucha! Freeza's on his way here right now, for Heaven's sake!"

Yamucha froze in his tracks. "What?" he cried, spinning back around. "But I thought he was dead!"

"We all turned out to be wrong on that one," Bulma said, staring grimly up at the sky. "He'll be landing within the next hour."

"You mean he's coming to Earth? You're not messing with me, are you?" Yamucha asked, his voice a mingling of skepticism and hope.

"Well, of course not!" Bulma said impatiently. "Why on Earth would I joke about such a thing? And besides, I can sense him up there, just as plain as day! Haven't you picked him up yet?"

"I don't sense a thing!" Yamucha said in consternation as he strained his chi sense at the sky above them. "He must not be close enough yet, I guess."

"Not close enough?!" Bulma practically exploded at him. "You've got to be kidding! Kuririn and Gohan sensed him not less than five minutes ago, Yamucha! Vegita and I picked him up not long before that! Just how is it that he can be 'too far away' for you to sense him yet?"

Bulma was furious, and Yamucha knew it. He shuffled his feet nervously and looked down at the ground in embarrassment. "Oh," he said nervously. "Well, y'see, Bulma, it's like this. I haven't been training as hard as you and Kuririn, and well, to be honest, you're both way ahead of me. I mean, geez Bulma, you're easily twice as strong as I am now."

Bulma couldn't believe her ears. There was no way in the world that what Yamucha was claiming could be right. It was just impossible! Yamucha had always been stronger than she, and for him to just tell her something like that... She didn't know how to handle this terrible revelation. The pedestal that she'd held him on for all these years suddenly came crashing down, and with it, the reverent image she'd had of her former sensei. How could such a terrible thing have happened?

"Y-you're not serious!" Bulma stammered, grabbing his upper arms and shaking him, forcing him to lift his head and look her in the eyes. She was still unwilling to believe what he'd told her, but when she saw the guilt and embarrassment in his eyes, she knew that he was telling her the truth. She let go of him and stepped back a few paces as she began to shake with emotion. How could this be possible?

Yamucha just knew that he was in for another eruption of Mt. Bulma. He figured he deserved this one, though, so he staunchly stood his ground against the impending explosion.

"I'm afraid I am," he said bravely. "It's the honest-to-God truth, Bulma. I'm sorry."

Bulma trembled a little more, but she didn't blow up at him. What she did instead had much more of an effect on him.

"Oh, Yamucha," she said in a low, mournful voice, and she lowered her head as she shook it in dismay. "I can't believe this. I just can't believe things turned out this way."

"I'm really sorry if I've made you mad," Yamucha said quickly, "but how was I to know Freeza would come back? I swear, I was sure it wasn't going to hurt anything for me to take it easy a little! C'mon, Bulma, please don't be mad at me!"

"Yamucha!" Bulma cried, her face shooting up to be level with his. There were already tears trickling down her cheeks. "Yamucha, I'm not mad at you! I'm scared! You can't even _begin_ to imagine how scared I am of what's going to happen to you today if you really are that much weaker than I am! I mean, this is Freeza we're talking about, Yamucha! He's not only back to full health, but he's much stronger than he was before! Do you have any idea what kind of power I'm talking about here? Do you?" Bulma was becoming hysterical. "My chances of survival in this battle are next to nothing, Yamucha! That means yours are even worse!"

A little bit of the color drained out of Yamucha's face as what Bulma was saying finally began to hit home. "Just how powerful can he be?!" he asked anxiously.

Bulma gave a shudder and she struggled with her emotions for a few more moments before she was able to answer him. "Freeza makes Vegita look like a weak kitten – a _very_ weak kitten," she said with a shaky, cracking voice. "He's already killed me once, and I'm all but certain he's going to do it again today. I'll be honest with you, Yamucha; I'd say our chances of winning are worse odds than winning the lottery."

That did it. The full effect of what Bulma was saying hit him all at once, and he shook his head in horror. "No creature could be that powerful!" he whispered in disbelief.

"This one is; I can assure you," Bulma said quietly, lifting her head to shoot him a solemn frown, "and he's on his way here right now."

Yamucha just stared at her in dumbfounded astonishment. Bulma wished she had something reassuring to tell him, but she didn't want to sugarcoat things for him either. Unlike her mother, Yamucha needed to know the full truth.

"That would be Gohan," she said suddenly, looking up at the chi she had only just recently picked up from a few hundred feet overhead. He was nothing but a small speck up high in the sky at the moment, but he was quickly descending toward them.

"I came as soon as Kuririn called," he said when he landed. "Mom and Grandpa are scared half to death, but I felt Freeza too. I have to come." Gohan was wearing the armor Vegita had given him on Namek, and he looked very worried indeed.

"I'm glad you did," Bulma said. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Piccolo-san's on his way out that way," Gohan said, pointing west. "I think he's guessing that Freeza's going to land somewhere out there."

"Then I say we follow him as soon as Kuririn gets here," Bulma said thoughtfully. "I have a good deal of faith in Piccolo's judgment, Gohan. I'm pretty sure that if he thinks Freeza's going to land somewhere out there, that's what's going to happen."

Gohan nodded, smiling a little at Bulma's compliment of his sensei. He looked at Yamucha. "Are you coming too, Mr. Yamucha?" he asked in the cute, polite manner that only Gohan could pull off.

"Yes," Yamucha said, his voice squeaking a little. "Although Bulma's really making me nervous about Freeza."

"I don't need Bulma to make me nervous," Gohan said quietly. "I'm so scared I can hardly stand it, but I'm ready to fight. I won't hesitate to give this battle everything I've got, because everything I've got is what's on the line."

Truer words had never been spoken, and Yamucha looked down at his feet for a moment before nodding solemnly. He was definitely scared himself, but after hearing such inspiring words from Gohan, his resolve had been set. He was ready too.

"Kuririn's coming," Bulma said, squinting at something she couldn't quite see yet on the horizon. "Let's meet him on his way and hurry out after Piccolo. The sooner we join him, the better."

"Right," Yamucha and Gohan agreed, and they all flew up to meet Kuririn in mid-air. It only took a half-minute to catch up to him, and they paused to fill him in on what was going on with Piccolo. Soon after, they were flying out to meet their Namek comrade on the battlefield.

"Hey Bulma," Kuririn said, glancing at her nervously. "Are you okay? You don't look very well today."

Bulma glared at him. "I'm just fine, thanks," she said curtly. "There's nothing wrong with me, Kuririn."

"That's not what your mom's been telling me," Yamucha snapped at her. "She says you haven't been eating, and she doubts you've had a good night's sleep in weeks. Something _is_ wrong with you, Bulma, though what it is, none of us can figure out."

Bulma's expression darkened. She might have had an easier time of it these past couple of weeks if she'd just left the compound for a while, but she hadn't dared. She'd known better than to leave Yamucha and Vegita to their own devices. Either one might have tried to do something stupid while she was away if she had done that.

"There's Piccolo-san!" Gohan said, grateful for a reason to interject. "And Vegita's down there with him already! It sure looks weird to see them together!"

Gohan was right. The two had their backs to one another, but they were most definitely down there together. Bulma tried not to think too much about Vegita as they landed next to them. She had a much more important threat to worry about, and he would be along within the next ten minutes, unless she missed her guess. Besides, Vegita wasn't all that imposing now; he had gone into battle mode, and he wasn't paying attention to anyone. Bulma knew what he was doing. He was prepping his mind for the impending suicide effort they were all about to take on, and she couldn't really blame him. It was something they all would have to deal with by one method or another before the real fighting began.

"Do you all intend to fight?" Piccolo asked stonily when they landed. He looked at Yamucha when he said it.

"'Fraid so," Kuririn replied, cupping both his hands behind his head and trying to sound casual, although he had already begun to pale and gulp a bit. "It's not like we had anything better to do, after all. You know what they say; 'today's a good day to die.'"

Piccolo gave a grunt of disapproval. Then he looked sternly at Bulma. "You don't exactly look up to par," he said flatly. "Are you on a fast or something?"

"Will everyone just shut up about the way I look?!" Bulma snapped angrily. "So I've lost a little weight! Big deal! You're all acting like I'm going to keel over dead at any second!"

Vegita smirked a little. "That's not such a bad idea," he said dryly. "You'd be saving Freeza the trouble of killing you a second time."

Bulma glared at him. What the hell did he know anyway? She wasn't the only one Freeza had killed. She was about to remind him of this when she sensed the approach of two chi sources - one large and one small.

"It's Tenshinhan and Chaozu!" Kuririn exclaimed. "So they did sense Freeza after all!"

"All right," Tenshinhan said when he and Chaozu had landed. "Spill it. What's with that crazy power that we've been sensing for the last hour? I've never picked up anything like this before!"

"Freeza's coming," Kuririn said grimly. "This is the first time you two and Yamucha have been exposed to him, but the rest of us could recognize his chi anywhere. It's Freeza all right, and he's a lot stronger than he was before."

"Freeza?!" Tenshinhan gasped. "But I thought Goku killed him!"

"Yeah, well, we're thinking of starting a petition to tell him he's supposed to be dead," Bulma said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "We'd love to have your signatures."

"And he's coming to Earth?" Chaozu gasped. "Why?"

"To kill Goku, I would imagine," Bulma said, looking up. "Even back on Namek I figured he'd do this, given the chance. Thanks to Raditz, Nappa, and Vegita, he knew where Goku, or 'Kakarrot,' had been sent as a child, and thus where all his emotional ties were. I knew that, given Goku's forgiving nature, he'd probably try to beat some sense into Freeza and just let him go. I'm guessing that's what happened, and now it's coming back to bite _us_ instead of Goku. Freeza's going to do anything he can to get back at Goku for the humiliation he's been put through, and killing us will be the perfect way to start. Once we're taken care of, the entire planet'll be next, no doubt. This is exactly why I wanted to be sure Goku finished Freeza on Namek."

"You and me both," Piccolo agreed. "Son never had much of a mind for dealing with his enemies properly."

"Anyway," Bulma sighed. "What's done is done. Whether Goku let Freeza go willingly or not is irrelevant now. I don't think it will be possible for us to win against him, but we have no choice but to try. I'll be honest with you, though; I kind of wish we had another Super Saiyan lying around somewhere to improve our odds."

Vegita's face twitched a little when she said that. Apparently she'd struck a nerve.

"It's not going to do us any good to wish for the impossible," Piccolo muttered. "We'll just have to make do."

"Would you all mind shutting the hell up!" Vegita yelled angrily. "I'd rather he didn't pick up your mindless chattering on his scouters, if it's not too much to ask! I'd prefer to have the element of surprise on my side!"

Tenshinhan and Yamucha glared at him in contempt, but there was no time for retort, as Piccolo suddenly alerted them to the fact that Freeza's ship had entered the atmosphere.

"Can you sense him now?" Bulma whispered nervously to Yamucha, who was as white as a ghost.

"For the past few minutes," Yamucha replied. "Although at first I wasn't willing to believe my senses. You weren't kidding. This guy is way out of any league I could ever dream of."

"Here he comes," Kuririn muttered as a huge spaceship, not unlike the one Freeza had on Namek, shot down out of the sky. It whooshed through the sky just above them and began to descend for a landing a little bit past a large, rocky ridge behind them.

"Come on," Piccolo said quietly, pointing to the ridge. "We can't just stay here. Be sure to keep your power as low as you can. We don't want Freeza's scouters to pick us up prematurely. Vegita's right; the element of surprise is one tool we won't want to waste." He then took off for the cliff at a quick trot, and they all followed suit. They quickly climbed up the rock wall when they reached it, each one being careful not to use too much chi energy on the way.

Finally, they reached the top of the cliff and found themselves atop a large mesa overlooking the edge of the wide, deep canyon in which Freeza's ship had made its landing, not less than a half-mile away. A hatch had just opened on the bottom, and a small company of armored henchmen was pouring out of the ship. Freeza was already out and he was standing next to a tall being that looked very much like he himself had in his second form. The other one was very powerful too. He must have been of Freeza's race. Freeza looked like he was still in his final form, but there was something very wrong about his appearance. He seemed to have a lot of dark splotches all over his body, as though he was wearing a strange kind of armor. From this distance, they were unable to tell just what it was that they were seeing.

Bulma frowned. They were going to have a hard time sneaking up on that group with all those scouters they were wearing. All at once, a brilliant, reckless idea occurred to her, and she grinned. It was risky, but it would give them the edge they'd need. Vegita was going to get his element of surprise all right!

"I've an idea," she said quietly. "One that'll provide you with a good chance to sneak up on them. Come down as quickly and quietly as you can!" Before anyone could blink, she stopped time and flew down toward Freeza and his group. When she reached them, she was able to see just why Freeza had looked so strange. He seemed to have what appeared to be a kind of robotic patchwork job done to him, as though parts of him had been replaced by mechanical substitutes. She wondered if he had rebuilt himself like that on purpose, or if it had been done in order to heal him from whatever injuries he'd sustained in his fight with Goku. Well, it didn't matter. She had a job to do.

The first thing she did was to take every scouter she could find on them and set them all in a big pile on the ground not too far away. Then she let time flow again, and before Freeza or any of his companions knew what was happening, she blasted the pile of scouters to smithereens.

Freeza gaped at her in astonishment. "You're alive?!" he cried in surprise.

Bulma didn't smile at him. She didn't feel much like it today. "If you've come for Goku," she said coldly, "I'm afraid he's not here. Kindly get off of my planet and take your little cronies with you."

Freeza smirked. "You don't really expect me to do that, now do you?" he asked her with a slight chuckle.

"Not really," Bulma said curtly, "but I felt it necessary to at least offer you an opportunity to leave before I kick your ass. You might consider it professional courtesy."

"I'm touched," Freeza said, grinning broadly at her. "So tell me; where are all your little friends?"

"Oh, they're coming," Bulma said casually, crossing her arms. "I just got here first."

"What a pity," Freeza said with a rather disappointed smile. "I was so looking forward to their seeing me kill you a second time."

"Maybe it's better this way," Bulma said with a sneer. "I hear that last time, when you had an audience, you ran into a bit of a problem."

Freeza scowled. "Kill her," he ordered, nodding at his henchmen. They quickly formed a wide circle around Bulma, and she assumed a defensive stance. So it was time to begin fighting already, was it? She wondered if she would be able to handle all of these thugs at once. They really didn't feel all that strong, but there were a lot of them. Suddenly, they all began to charge at her at the same time, yelling furiously as they came. They had gone no more than a couple feet towards her, however, before they all suddenly stopped in their tracks, only to promptly fall to pieces - using the most literal sense possible for that phrase - as their bodies actually split up into uneven, sliced chunks. Bulma thought for a moment that she had briefly sensed a very powerful presence all around her, but now it was gone.

"What the?" Freeza exclaimed, his eyes bugging out of his head as he stared at something behind her.

Bulma turned around, and then she saw him - a young boy, most likely in his late teens, very well dressed, and quite handsome. He was carrying a large sword, which rested in a sheath that was strapped to his back. He had an air of cool confidence about him that most girls his age probably found irresistible, and he was glaring with distaste at Freeza.

"I don't know who you are, kid," Bulma called to him, glancing furtively at Freeza, "but you should do yourself a favor and get out of here now. This is not a fight you wanna get caught up in."

He turned toward her and smiled at her so naturally that Bulma found herself wondering if she'd met this boy somewhere before. He looked so familiar for some strange reason.

"Thank you, Ms. Briefs," he said in a confident, businesslike tone, "but I'm well within my league in this. I suggest you stand back and let me dispose of Freeza on my own. Don't worry; it won't take long."

Bulma couldn't believe her ears. Not only did this boy know who she was, but he also seemed to know who Freeza was! What's more, he even thought he could handle Freeza on his own! Who was this kid, anyway?

Freeza couldn't believe his ears either. "Did you hear that, father?!" he hooted, laughing loudly. "That little cretin thinks he'll just 'dispose' of me alone!" The large being next to him, whom Bulma now assumed to be Freeza's father, snickered a little at the boy's claim as well.

"So you think yourself that powerful, do you, boy?" Freeza chuckled, grinning fiendishly at him.

"I know I'm more than powerful enough for you," the boy replied with a sneer. "And I also happen to know that, within the next five minutes, you'll have found that out the hard way."

"Oh really?" Freeza jeered. "Is that so?"

"Quite so," the boy replied. "Let me give you a little advice, Freeza. When you come at me, do so at full power. Don't waste your precious remaining seconds of life underestimating me."

"Why should I do such a thing?" Freeza snorted. "A pipsqueak like you wouldn't even be worth my time."

"I'll tell you why right now," the boy replied viciously, wiping the smirk right off of Freeza's face. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Freeza. You came here looking for Son Goku, a Super Saiyan, who, thus far, is the only person to have bested you in combat. Well, I've got news for you; Son Goku isn't the only Super Saiyan."

"What?" Freeza cried, his face suddenly awash with horror.

The young boy smirked, and then he began to charge up his chi tremendously. Within seconds he'd gone way beyond anything Bulma had ever sensed before, and he was already way past Freeza. Suddenly, with a yell of fury, his chi aura turned yellow, and his hair and eyebrows did the same. Bulma stared in awe at this amazing transformation, all the while marveling at the incredible surge of power this kid was giving off.

Freeza, on the other hand, was apparently more freaked out than he was amazed. "No!" he shrieked, shaking his head and beginning to tremble like a leaf. "It can't be! There's another one! And he has... those... eyes!"

The boy stared coldly at him through harsh, blue pupils. "Any last words?" he asked grimly.

Freeza's face became twisted with rage and fear. "You won't defeat me!" he screamed, quickly forming a chi ball the size of a small building - one with more than enough power to destroy the whole planet.

"No! Don't!" Bulma screamed, but it was too late. Freeza flung the deadly blast at the boy, and it hit him head-on and began pushing itself into the ground.

"Pity," the tall being behind Freeza said. "Did you really have to destroy the planet so quickly, Freeza?"

"Stop criticizing me, Father," Freeza said crossly. "I'd intended to destroy the planet anyway, hadn't I? Does it really matter whether I wait a few minutes or not?"

Bulma was livid with rage. She'd already assumed that she was going to die today, but she hadn't allowed herself to believe that the rest of the planet was going to go with her, no matter how likely it had seemed. In the light of the events of the past few seconds, she decided that if she was about to die, she'd rather go fighting. That would be better that than being blown up with the planet. Screaming in anger and hatred, she flew at Freeza as fast as she could and punched him squarely in the nose, sending him flying backward so fast that he crashed right into his own ship, making a deep, cracked dent where he hit.

Still screaming in her fury, Bulma darted after him and yanked him by his tail out of the crevice in the side of the ship. She swung him around in a tight circle before flinging him at his father, and they both went skidding across the rocky dirt for a good twenty yards before coming to a stop.

Bulma shot down to the ground and stood on the spot where Freeza's father had originally stood. She then waited for them to get up and face her, knowing well that she wouldn't have caught them off guard enough for another surprise attack. They did get up, and both glared at her with utter contempt and hatred.

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Freeza screeched, launching himself forward, a small but potent chi ball already forming around one of his fists. Bulma charged up her chi for an explosive burst, intending to let it explode as Freeza reached her. She probably wouldn't survive this hit, but she was determined to give him some more scars in the process. His android-esque appearance might possibly have been evidence of his encounter with Goku, but if she could leave even a small reminder of herself on his hide, at least she might feel a little better about dying again.

She never got her chance, however. Freeza came to a screeching halt not less than twenty feet away from her, his chi ball already having dissipated, and his face twisted in horror. He was gaping with no small degree of surprise and terror at something behind her. Bulma couldn't help herself; she had to look. She turned around, and she nearly cried out at what she saw. The boy with the sword was emerging from the crater, and he was holding Freeza's entire - and still very much intact - blast up with one hand as he came.

"Did you lose something?" he jeered at the very shaken Freeza.

Freeza actually backed up a little this time. Bulma could tell that he was truly afraid. Truth be told, however, she couldn't blame him. She was a little scared herself, and good sense told her that she no longer had any place in this fight. For some reason, she actually believed that this stranger could defeat Freeza, and was indeed about to do so.

"I guess you don't need any assistance after all, do you?" she called out to him. The boy smiled at her again. "Well, all right then," she said, smiling back and shooting him a quick salute. "Good luck. I'll see you when it's over." She stopped time then, and she flew back to where she'd left everyone else, hoping to locate them not too far away. They were all at the bottom of the canyon wall, and they all had wild, astounded expressions on their faces. They were just as surprised as she was. Bulma let time flow again, and they continued to watch the young Super Saiyan for a few more seconds before they realized she was there.

"Bulma!" Kuririn cried. "You're okay! Man, what's going on down there?!"

"I don't know for sure," Bulma replied, shaking her head. "That boy just showed up, and he claims he's a Super Saiyan. I don't know whether to believe him or not, but it sounds like he's on our side. He knew my and Freeza's names too, but I know I've never met him before! I'm sure I'd have remembered meeting a kid with that kind of power!"

"Well, one thing's for certain," Piccolo said. "That boy is definitely a Super Saiyan. He looks just like Son did after Freeza killed you."

"Only he has less hair," Kuririn pointed out with a nervous laugh.

"Lies!" Vegita cried. "All lies! Only I, Kakarrot, and his brat have Saiyan blood! He can't be a Super Saiyan, because he can't even be a Saiyan!"

"Tell him that," Kuririn chuckled as the youth evaded a lunge from Freeza, only to disappear and then rematerialize on a high ledge on the far right side of the canyon. He then performed a confusing series of fast, deliberate movements with his hands as he began to charge up his chi.

"Freeza!" he called, just before shooting a small warning blast at the bewildered Freeza.

Freeza jumped up into the air to avoid the blast, but that had been a fatal mistake. The boy leapt at him, having now drawn his sword for the final blow. For the briefest of moments, Freeza saw the boy coming, but it was too late for him to make a move. In one neat but deadly swipe, the strange boy sliced Freeza right down the middle with his sword. Bulma gasped as Freeza's two halves slid apart in midair. She couldn't believe her own eyes!

The boy wasn't done yet, though. In an instant, he had made three more slices with his sword, cutting Freeza into even smaller pieces, which hung suspended in the air just long enough for the boy to sheathe his sword and reduce them to atoms in one massive blast.

Bulma just couldn't believe it. That kid, whoever he was, had just killed Freeza as if it had been nothing at all!

"I- I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Kuririn breathed. "What power!"

Vegita was apparently just as shocked as Kuririn, but he didn't say anything. He just watched – slack-jawed and completely transfixed - while the wondrous youth flew down to take care of Freeza's father next.

"Well, I'd say that settles it," Bulma said brightly. "What was that you were saying earlier about its doing us no good wishing for the impossible, Piccolo?" she asked with a good-natured laugh.

"It would seem that I'm eating my words," Piccolo grumbled, "but Vegita's right; this doesn't make sense. Who is this kid? He obviously must have Saiyan blood in him from somewhere. Maybe he's from another planet."

"Maybe," Bulma mused. "But I just can't shake the feeling that I've met this boy from somewhere before. I don't know; it's something about his eyes, I think. They look familiar somehow."

"You must have met him then," Gohan said. "You did say he knew your name, right?"

"Well, yes, he did," Bulma replied, furrowing her brow as she thought a little more deeply. "But he also knew who Freeza was, and Freeza didn't recognize him either. I halfway wonder if maybe one of your people had a child with somebody from another planet, Vegita. This boy doesn't look like any Saiyan I've ever seen, but then again, I haven't seen many. Anyway, if that's what happened, it's slightly possible that he's kept up with Freeza's actions over the past few years. He sure seemed familiar with him."

"Ridiculous," Vegita muttered. "My race was a proud and noble people. Cross-breeding with other races was strictly forbidden. Besides, it would have been detrimental to the strength of our bloodlines if they were to become thinned by the weak blood of other peoples. One reason why the Saiyans were the most powerful race in the universe was because we kept our bloodlines so pure."

"He doesn't look all that weak to me," she muttered testily. "Anyway, what about Goku?" she persisted. "He had a family here on Earth, didn't he? All I'm saying is that it could be a possibility."

"Don't be stupid!" Vegita snorted. "Kakarrot was an ignorant fool who lost all memory of his identity. His actions can't be considered representative of those of the rest of the Saiyan people!"

"Oh well," Bulma sighed, shrugging in defeat. "If you say so, then I guess I won't argue it any further. You would know better than I would, I suppose. But that doesn't help us figure out where he comes from, does it? We'll just have to ask him ourselves."

They watched in silence while Freeza's father tried to attack the boy with his own sword, but failed miserably with each attempt. He didn't get many chances, though, because the boy simply blasted a hole straight through the giant's middle, sending him crashing into a nearby rock face. The boy then re-sheathed his sword, and changed back into his previous state. After that, he looked over at Bulma and her friends and smiled.

"Hey!" he called to them. "Goku's going to land in a couple of hours! Just follow me if you want to come wait for him with me!" He then took off over the opposite cliff face of the canyon while they gaped at him in shock.

"Should we go after him?" Kuririn asked nervously.

"Well, I certainly am!" Bulma said excitedly. "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't! He just saved our tails from Freeza, and besides, I wanna be there if he's telling the truth about Goku!" Before anyone could stop her, she took off after the remarkable young warrior, leaving the rest of them behind, staring after her in astonishment.

She didn't have far to go. The boy only flew a few miles out. She landed less than a few feet away from him and watched with interest as he took a capsule out and popped it open to reveal a small refrigerator.

"Would you like a soda?" he offered, getting one out for himself.

"Okay," Bulma said, shrugging and smiling broadly at him. "You wouldn't happen to have any lime-flavored ones, would you?"

He laughed. "That's what I thought you might say," he said with a grin, and he got one out for her and tossed it to her.

Bulma looked at him curiously. "What was that supposed to mean?" she asked. He turned kind of red then, and he quickly turned his face away to avoid her gaze.

"There are about a million questions whizzing through my brain right now," Bulma sighed, "but I think I ought to wait until the others get here to ask them. I think you ought to know that we're all very confused. I mean, for as far as we know, Vegita, Goku, and Gohan are the only ones with Saiyan blood in them. Yet Kuririn, Gohan, and Piccolo all confirmed that you actually did undergo the Super Saiyan transformation. Honestly, I wasn't sure you were telling Freeza the truth until they said you were. This is the first time I've ever seen what a Super Saiyan actually _looks_ like, not to mention how terrifically powerful one is."

"You were killed by Freeza before it happened to Son Goku the first time, right?" the boy asked, smiling almost reverently at her.

"Well... yes!" Bulma exclaimed. "But how did you know that?"

"Er... my mother told me," the boy replied, looking flustered.

"Oh, do I know your mother?" Bulma said excitedly. "If that's the case, then that might explain why I keep getting the funny feeling that I know you from somewhere! Oh, but that wouldn't explain why you're a Super Saiyan..." Bulma was racking her brain for an answer, and the boy just looked at her helplessly. It was obvious that he didn't like her questions.

"Whoops, here they come," Bulma said, glancing back at the growing cluster of dots on the horizon that was the rest of the group. "I have a bit of a request to make of you, kid. Try not to make Vegita too angry with you. That man is like a ticking time bomb when it comes to meeting people stronger than he is, and he most definitely sees you as competition. Although, confidentially," Bulma said, winking reassuringly at him, "I've no doubt at all that you could knock him flat in a second. I'm just trying to make life bearable for the rest of us at Capsule Corp."

"Er... right," the boy said, blushing a little. "I'll keep that in mind then."

"Thanks," Bulma said, smiling courteously at him, just as the rest of her group arrived. They all landed just a few yards away, eying the mysterious boy distrustfully. Vegita, being the most belligerent, was of course the first one to speak.

"Well?" he demanded impatiently, first glaring angrily at the boy and then at her. "Did you find out who he is?"

"Keep your shirt on," Bulma said crossly. "I figured you guys would want to hear what he had to say, all right? Geez!" She turned back toward the mysterious boy and smiled. "Okay, kid," she said affably. "It sounded like there are some things you don't want to tell us. Why don't you at least tell us what you can? I mean, we're dying for some kind of an explanation here!"

The boy sighed. "I know I owe you more than what I can say, but I can't risk telling you too much. All I can say is that, yes, I am a Super Saiyan, and yes, I'm on your side. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."

"That's all?" Piccolo asked quietly, eying him critically. "That's not much for us to go on, friend."

"I know it isn't," the boy replied, "but you'll just have to trust me. I'll understand if you don't, though. I wouldn't if I were in your position."

"Well," Bulma said, smiling brightly. "I see no reason to doubt what you're saying. I believe you, kid. Er, I don't suppose you could give us a name to call you by, either, huh?"

"No," he replied, lowering his eyes. "I'm afraid I can't."

"Are you out of your mind?" Vegita exploded at her. "Why, in the name of all that is sane should we believe any of what he says? You think that his telling you he's your friend makes it so? You're a damned fool!"

Bulma was too happy now to care about Vegita's insults. The fact that Freeza was gone had lifted her spirits clear up into the clouds. That wasn't really her motive for trusting their mysterious new acquaintance, though. "I never asked you to believe anything, Vegita," she said defiantly, sticking her tongue out at him and folding her arms with a smug grin, "but I honestly believe him. There's just something about that him makes me think we have no reason to suspect his motives. I'm sure the fact that he just saved our butts is a big plus, but it's not really the whole thing. Call it intuition, I guess. Besides," she added, turning and patting the kid lightly on the back, "we'll know for sure in a couple of hours if he's at least telling the truth about Goku, right?" She winked smartly at him, and he gave her a grateful smile in return.

"The depth of your stupidity knows no limits!" Vegita growled at her, his hair bristling up a little. "Fine! But if Kakarrot doesn't show up, you'd better be ready to die, boy!" he snarled menacingly. He then walked over to a large rock and plunked down on it, crossing his arms and scowling for all he was worth.

Bulma sighed and sat down on the ground. "We might as well take it easy," she said to the others. "We have a while to wait yet."

Gohan, Kuririn, and Chaozu opted to sit too, while Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and Yamucha remained standing. It was obvious that they didn't trust the new stranger any more than Vegita did.

Sighing again, Bulma lay back, resting the back of her head on her hands. She was very tired. She really shouldn't have been, but she supposed it had something to do with the little nervous condition Vegita had given her. She was going to have to get over that before long, or she really might give her family and friends something to worry about. It was terribly embarrassing to admit that the jerk affected her so much, though. Although she knew that he was the culprit, she wasn't about to just tell people so.

"Er, Ms. Briefs?" the stranger said after sitting down on a large boulder next to her.

Bulma opened her eyes. "Hm?" she said, glancing up at him attentively.

"Are you eating well?" he asked. "You look a little... well, not to be rude, but you look a little thinner than... than you should be." He was tripping over his words, and his cheeks were a trifle pink.

Bulma's expression hardened a little, but she looked back up at him very calmly and politely. "I'm fine," she said quietly. He nodded and promptly turned his face away. It seemed almost as though he could tell how much his comment had upset her.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: To Change The Future**

Everyone waited - if not patiently, then quietly - for the two hours to pass. Bulma and the mysterious boy were the only ones with watches on, and although neither one checked the time very much, neither of them was asked for the time by the others. Bulma was having a nice, quiet nap while everybody else stared in distrustful silence at the young warrior on the rock next to her. The fiercest glares came from Vegita, who was grinding his teeth so much that he looked like an angry cow chewing a cud. If Bulma had been paying any attention to him, she might have laughed out loud at how ridiculous he looked.

It was just nearing the last bit of the second hour when Bulma awoke with a start. It was a cry from Kuririn that had awakened her, and as soon as she woke up she understood what the cry had been about. Her senses immediately alerted her to the fact that a very powerful chi was approaching them, and it was definitely one that she knew!

"He's coming!" she said, wide awake now. She scrambled to her feet and saw that everyone else had already done the same. "I can feel it! That's gotta be Goku!" They all watched the sky expectantly. It wouldn't be long now!

"I wasn't sure I should believe it," Gohan said, his eyes brimming with tears. "But there's no doubt about it! Daddy's coming home!"

Vegita didn't say anything. He shared the same look of surprise with Tenshinhan and Yamucha as they all watched the sky. Bulma supposed that none of them had figured that the boy would be telling the truth. They could all sense Goku coming now though, and there was no mistaking that chi as belonging to anyone else but him.

The strange boy was smiling slightly, but he had an air of determination about him too. Everyone was too preoccupied to notice, though. They were watching the sky with fervent intensity, many of them with their faces aglow with joy. Goku was _very_ close!

"I see it!" Gohan shouted suddenly. "It's a spaceship!" He pointed to a pinprick of light way up in the sky, and as it grew larger, everybody seemed to grow more and more excited. Finally, the small pod zoomed to the surface, crashing into the ground not less than a quarter-mile away. They all flew eagerly toward the edge of the crater, each one wanting to be right there when the pod opened up.

It only took them a few seconds to reach the crater, but Goku's pod was already opening when they did. When he climbed out and saw everyone out there to welcome him home, one could only imagine his surprise!

"H-hey, guys!" he said, confused but obviously very happy. "Wow, you're all here! Gee, I wasn't expecting you to see me coming that far ahead of time!" He looked around a bit, and his face brightened when he saw Bulma.

"Bulma!" he cried. "Hey, it's great to see you in one piece again!"

Bulma laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm kind of glad about that too," she said, grinning at him.

"And Yamucha, Chaozu, and Tenshinhan!" he cried. "They brought you back too! All right!"

"Don't forget Vegita!" Kuririn laughed, feeling a little braver now that Goku was here.

"I didn't forget," Goku said, giving Vegita one of those smiles that always let everyone know that he was ready for anything. Vegita just smirked and gave a grunt of disdain. For once, he wasn't going to try to have the last word.

"But what I don't understand," Goku said, scratching his head in befuddlement, "is how you all knew to be here. Was this your doing, Bulma? Did you teleport them here when you sensed me coming?"

"Nope," Bulma replied, shaking her head. "We all came out to fight Freeza, but it turned out that we didn't have to. This young man here took care of him for us." She motioned to the thus far unnamed boy with a casual jerk of her thumb. "He also predicted the exact time and place of your arrival. It was because of him that we're all here right now."

"Who is he?" Goku said, smiling eagerly at him.

"Well," Bulma hesitated. "I was kind of hoping you knew. You see, he says he can't tell us who he is, but he somehow seems to know who you and all the rest of us are. None of us have ever met him. Oh, and get this! He's a Super Saiyan too!"

"Unreal!" Goku gasped. "Wow! At his age! What an accomplishment!"

Vegita growled. "Kakarrot!" he spat at him. "Doesn't it bother you in the least bit that you, I, and your brat are the only ones left with Saiyan blood? How in the hell can he be a Super Saiyan?!"

"Well, I sensed his transformation on my way here," Goku said, shrugging, "and it really did surprise me then. But now, I guess I understand how he got so strong so quickly. I believe him if that's what he says."

Bulma couldn't help giggling at Goku's fuzzy logic, and how it would most certainly be received by Vegita. "Imbecile!" he roared, confirming her suspicions. "Have you a vacuum between your ears?! Do you realize that what you just said is the most inane and ludicrous statement I have ever heard?! Such idiocy!" Vegita was, to say the least, a little miffed at Goku.

Goku just grinned. "I had almost forgotten what a friendly person you were, Vegita!" he laughed, his grin widening at the fury building on Vegita's face. "Anyway, I can tell he's not an enemy. There's not a bit of evil chi in 'im."

That seemed to be the final word, and Vegita looked like he was about to explode. Remarkably though, he didn't. He held his tongue, and he glared with utter contempt at Goku. Bulma stifled another giggle. It was great to see Vegita at a loss for words for a change.

"Goku," the boy said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. "I realize this may sound strange, but I need to speak with you privately for a few minutes. It's very important."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Yamucha said angrily. "What could you have to say to Goku that you can't say to us?"

"Please," the boy persisted. "I mean you no harm, and I'm afraid it may do more harm than good if I tell you what I need to tell him."

"All right," Goku said, his expression becoming more serious. "I'm willing to listen to you. Follow me." He flew off all the way to the other side of the crater, and the boy followed closely behind him.

"I can't believe Goku just did that!" Yamucha cried, totally shocked.

"Man," Bulma said, thinking aloud. "What that boy said was really cryptic, don't you think? You know, it makes me wonder... You don't suppose he can see the future, do you?"

"What?" Kuririn asked. "Are you serious? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well," Bulma began, thinking for a moment. "He seems to know so much about us, and about Freeza. The way he predicted Goku's arrival was uncanny, to say the least. Maybe he knows something important is about to happen, and is afraid telling us may change the future in a bad way. I don't know," she sighed, shrugging. "If that were the case, then I don't see why he should tell Goku about it, though. Maybe I'm just reading too much into this."

No one responded to her then, because for some unknown reason, Goku had just gone Super. Bulma gasped.

"Is that what Goku looked like on Namek?" she asked Kuririn. He nodded at her. "Amazing," she cried. "He does look like that boy did! He even has the same yellow chi aura!"

She needn't have made the comparison in her mind, because the boy suddenly became a Super Saiyan too. They all gasped in amazement.

"What does it mean?" Gohan asked nervously. "Are they gonna fight? I can't hear what they're saying out there!"

Suddenly, with lightning speed, the boy unsheathed his sword and brought it down to within a centimeter of Goku's face. Goku didn't move a muscle.

"Man, did you catch that speed?" Bulma breathed. "I never saw it happen! One moment he's standing there, and the next he's got his sword in Goku's face! Yow!"

"Yeah, but what's he up to?" Kuririn asked nervously. "He's not trying to hurt Goku, is he? He could poke an eye out with that thing!" He gave a nervous laugh.

"He really doesn't feel all that angry to me," Bulma said, squinting at the boy as she focused on his chi. "Besides, Goku's got him covered. Look at that!" She was right. The boy was furiously swiping at Goku with his sword now, but Goku was blocking each hit effortlessly with only an index finger. Finally, the boy stopped, and he tossed the sword high into the air. He then reverted back to his old form, leaned to the left slightly, and skillfully caught the sword with its sheath. Beaming, he then began talking to Goku again, who also reverted back to normal.

Bulma marveled at Goku's new abilities. Here she had thought the kid was incredible, but Goku blew him clear out of the water! That wasn't all that was on her mind, either. She was like Gohan and the others. She wanted to know what the two were talking about out there too. Fortunately, she was never going to hear the whole story.

- - - - -

"So what's on your mind, kid?" Goku asked the strange boy. "I have a feeling that you wanted to talk to me about something other than my being a Super Saiyan. Am I right?"

"Yes," the boy replied, nodding eagerly. "The only reason I did that was to confirm what I had been told about your awesome fighting ability. If I had been told wrong, then my trip here would have been in vain. I can now easily see that that's not the case, so all right, Goku. I'm going to tell you everything - everything I couldn't tell the others. Soon you'll understand why I could only tell you."

Goku waited patiently for him to continue. "Here goes," the boy said, his smile fading a little. "First off, my name is Trunks, and I'm not from your time; I traveled here from the future - about twenty years into the future, as a matter of fact. That's the reason I knew when and where you'd land when you arrived back on Earth. In my time, it had happened long ago, and it was only a matter of adjusting the time machine accordingly to be here."

"Whoa!" Goku exclaimed. "That explains that! A time machine! Wow!"

"Yeah, it's an amazing invention, even for its time," Trunks replied with a proud smile. "It took a real genius to design and build it."

"Wow," Goku said again. "So how about your being able to go Super Saiyan? Can you explain that too?"

"Yes," Trunks replied. "Vegita was right about you, Gohan, and him. You three are the only ones with Saiyan blood... in your time now. I'm half-Saiyan, just like Gohan, and I got my Saiyan blood from Vegita. He was my father."

Goku's jaw dropped nearly to the ground. "No way!" he practically shouted. "Vegita's your dad?! Oh man, do I feel sorry for you!" Giggling, he glanced off toward Vegita. "Hey, now that you mention it," he gasped, "you do look a little like him! Wow! Vegita, a dad! This is incredible!"

"Goku," Trunks said impatiently, "please listen. I have a world of things I need to tell you that are much more important."

"Okay, but first I have to know one thing!" Goku said with a goofy grin. "Who's your mother? I'm dying to know! Do I know her?"

Trunks smiled. It felt as though he was talking to a little kid. "Yes, you do," he said calmly. "She's standing right over there." He pointed over Goku's shoulder at the group on the other side of the crater.

Goku lost all control then. "Bulma's your mother?!" he yelled, falling to his back out of either surprise, mirth, or both.

At the same time, Piccolo's eyes bugged out, and Bulma sneezed. She rubbed her nose a little and sniffled. "That came outta nowhere," she said in surprise. †

"Try to control yourself, Goku," Trunks begged him, his cheeks beginning to flush a little. "They might hear you!"

"But man, Trunks!" Goku hooted. "Bulma and Vegita! I mean, Vegita's a rude, bossy, obnoxious jerk, and Bulma's a quick-tempered, bossy..." He paused suddenly, his face aglow with the epiphany that had just hit him. "Hey!" he cried. "You know what? Those two were made for each other! Do they like each other yet?"

"Er... maybe not," Trunks said, growing even redder. "I didn't really ask my mom how she felt about my dad when you got back to Earth, but it doesn't look like they do to me. Now please, Goku," he said insistently. "Don't mention anything about this to either of them. If you do, I may not even be born. Don't worry; they'll find each other on their own, but if anyone says anything to them about this, it might not happen."

"Oh, okay," Goku said, still grinning. "I won't say a word; I promise."

"Good," Trunks sighed. "Now, listen," he said, his face adopting a more stern expression. "That wasn't what I came here to tell you, Goku. There's something very terrible in store for this planet, and I'm here to warn you about it. It's something that won't surface for three years yet. At precisely ten o'clock a.m. on May 12, three years from now, two jinzouningen - artificial humans - will appear on an island nine miles southwest of Metro South and begin to wreak havoc. These two are more powerful than anything you've ever encountered, Goku. They make Freeza look like nothing at all, and these creatures are evil, pure and simple. They delight in the pain and suffering of others, and they make life in my world a living nightmare. They've slaughtered entire cities already!"

"Where did they come from?" Goku asked, horrified by Trunks' prophetic words. "Did they come from another planet?"

"No," Trunks replied. "The answer to that is going to haunt you for the rest of your life. They were created by a scientist by the name of Gero - Dr. Gero, from the Red Ribbon Army. Do you remember them?"

"Hey, yeah!" Goku said. "I defeated them when I was a kid!"

"Yes, you defeated the Red Ribbon," Trunks agreed, "but you let Gero go. That was a terrible mistake, Goku. Look, I know that you're a decent guy who just wants to give everyone a chance to change, but you never should have let this man live. He's been holding a grudge against you ever since the day his whole army came crashing down around him, and that grudge is causing him, at this very moment, to create two of the most horrible beings imaginable in an effort to destroy you."

"So why are they killing all those innocent people in your time?" Goku asked. "They're after me, aren't they?"

"That was the purpose Gero created them for," Trunks sighed. "But the moment he awakened those creatures, they turned on him and killed him. They've run their own twisted little reign of terror ever since. They're monsters, Goku, and everyone who's ever gone up against them has died, everyone except for me and my mother."

"All of them?" Goku gasped. "Dead?"

"All of them," Trunks replied. "Piccolo, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and even my father were all killed in the first battle with those bastards! Since Piccolo went with them, the dragonballs are gone too. They're all going to die here in that awful battle three years from now, and there'll be no way to bring them back."

"What about me?" Goku asked. "Do I get killed by the Jinzouningen too?"

"No," Trunks replied. "You die long before it. You've contracted a strange new heart disease from your trip to planet Yardrat, Goku. In two and a half years' time, only a few weeks after I'm born, you'll die from it. You'll never even get to see the Jinzouningen."

"What?" Goku cried. "Killed by a stupid heart disease?! That's not fair at all! I want to fight those Jinzouningen with the others!"

"Huh?" Trunks said, obviously surprised. "You want to fight them? Even after all I've told you about them?"

"Well, sure!" Goku said, balling his fists. "I mean, I may not win either, but I might make a difference! In any case, I've got to try!"

"Mom was right about you," Trunks laughed, his face full of relief. "You are amazing, Goku. Here," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small pill bottle. "Take this and keep it safe."

"What is it?" Goku asked, looking at it curiously.

"In your time there's no cure for that awful disease," Trunks replied, "but in my time there is. Take those pills as soon as you get sick. Wait any longer, and it might be too late."

"Wow, thanks!" Goku cried. "I hope they taste good, too!"

Trunks just smiled at him. Goku stuffed the pill bottle in his pocket, and then he looked at Trunks in confusion. "Wait a minute," he said. "What about Bulma? You said she's still alive. Was she involved in the first battle?"

"No," Trunks said, shaking his head. "She wanted to fight, but Dad was totally against it. She said that he must have sensed there was something very dangerous about the Jinzouningen, because they had the most violent quarrel they'd ever had when she insisted on coming. She said they never really resolved it, but the next day, before she had even taken two steps out the door, Dad snuck up behind her and knocked her out cold. Then he picked her up and carried her up to her room. He locked her in there and told Grandma and Grandpa that she'd be out for a good six hours, and if they didn't want their grandson to grow up without a mother, they'd better leave her that way, so they did. Mom says that when she thinks back on it, she doesn't hate Dad for what he did, nor her parents for following his orders, but she always wonders how long she might have lasted against them in the end."

"Did she ever try?" Goku asked.

"Once," Trunks said, his expression darkening, "and they came damn near close to killing her. If she hadn't teleported away in time, they would have destroyed her. She was in the hospital for almost four months, and that was before Karin could get her a Sensu bean."

"Poor Bulma," Goku sighed. "Well, what about Gohan? You didn't mention him. Did he fight the Jinzouningen too?"

"Yes," Trunks said. "While my mom taught me the basics of fighting, I eventually got better than she was, because of the Saiyan part of me. When she realized that she would only hold me back if she tried to continue my training, she asked Gohan to take over. He was my mentor, as well as my best friend. Although he was far better than I was in every way, even he didn't escape their power forever. They killed him, four years ago in my time, and it was that act that caused me to go Super Saiyan for the first time. I still get so angry when I think of what they did to him!"

Goku waited patiently for Trunks to regain his composure. "But that's all there is to say, I guess," Trunks said finally. "Mom decided five years ago in my time that if she couldn't physically destroy the Jinzouningen, then she'd have to be more indirect. She actually thought up a way to construct a time machine, and it's taken her all of the past five years to build it. She told me that there was only one chance to save the future: save the past of Son Goku. She had such faith in you, and now I know why. Please, Goku. Try your best to prepare for the Jinzouningen. When the time comes for them to appear, I too will come to help you fight. Hopefully the past will change to create a better future. I've told you all I can tell you. I hope it does you more good than harm."

Trunks then opened a small capsule case and took out a little yellow capsule. He threw it out and it popped open to reveal a large, yellow craft that didn't look like anything Goku - or the others, for that matter - had ever seen before. The word "hope" was written in simple, hand-painted letters on the side.

"Good-bye, Goku," Trunks said, climbing in and sitting down at the controls. "Stay well!" The machine flew up into the air, and Trunks waved good-bye to the rest of the group across the crater.

"Oh, he's leaving!" Bulma cried. "Isn't he?"

"Yes," Piccolo said. "He's going back to his time."

"Don't you mean his place?" she asked him quizzically. Piccolo just ignored her. Suddenly the machine overhead began to glow white, and in a split second it had disappeared.

"Whoa!" Kuririn cried. "Where did it go?"

"Here comes Goku," Bulma said excitedly. "Let's ask him what that was all about!"

"Hey guys!" Goku said, grinning at them all, Bulma and Vegita in particular.

"Come on, Goku, don't keep us in suspense!" Bulma cried. "What did he say to you?"

"Oh, uh, nothing really!" Goku laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head and trying to play the events of the past few minutes off as completely unimportant.

"It didn't sound like nothing to me," Piccolo said coldly. "In fact, I thought it all sounded quite interesting."

"Y-you heard?!" Goku squeaked.

"Yes," Piccolo replied with a stern frown. "My ears do more than just frame my face, Son. I think all of us have a right to know about the danger that awaits us, so that we'll be able to prepare ourselves for the upcoming fight."

"But Piccolo!" Goku cried, his voice sounding panicked. "You heard what he said! You can't...!"

"I won't say anything to endanger that boy, Son," Piccolo interrupted, "but we all have a right to know what's coming - not just you."

"All right," Goku sighed. "I guess you have a point, Piccolo. Just be careful, all right?"

"Fine," Piccolo said. He then explained all that was discussed, excluding Trunks' name and who his parents were. When he had finished, everyone stared at him in silence. Finally, something occurred to Bulma, and she spoke up.

"Wait a minute!" she cried. "Okay; let's assume for a moment that everything that boy said comes true, and that Gero is going to create these Jinzouningen no matter what we do. Why should we even let it happen? We might be able to find Gero and stop him ahead of time! Although, if it comes down to it, we'll most likely have to kill him to really stop him; I don't think we'll be able to reason with a man like that."

"But he hasn't done anything yet, Bulma," Goku said, frowning. "We can't kill him for something he hasn't done yet."

"Well, you know," Kuririn said, rubbing his chin a little. "Bulma does have a point. I mean, that kid was right on the money about everything we've seen so far, and if he's right about this Gero guy, then we can assume that he _is_ going to create those Jinzouningen if we don't stop him. Who knows? Maybe even after three years of training we won't be able to handle them. At least this way we can be assured of a victory."

"And you can be assured of cowardice!" Vegita snapped, making Kuririn flinch. "I'm not such a coward that I'll kill some withered old man just to avoid a battle! Let him build his little junk piles. I don't run from conflicts; I confront them."

"No, you _create_ them," Bulma snapped back at him, "and I'm sure that in that warped little brain of yours you do see it as being cowardly to take out Gero before he can create the Jinzouningen. How do you know you'll be strong enough to win against them? You're training your ass off now, and you died along with everyone else in that boy's story. Now, unless you decided to stop your training for some reason in his past, I don't think that any training you can do now will make that much of a difference. There's more to winning than relying on your own brawn, Vegita."

"Don't you tell me how to win my battles!" Vegita growled. "Artificial or not, no human could ever defeat me!"

"Artificial isn't the same thing as inferior," she retorted, "and you're just being pig-headed! At least Goku had a moral reason for disagreeing with me! You're just doing it to show off! You're such an idiot, Vegita!"

"I'm about this close from blasting you into the afterlife!" Vegita snapped, pinching his fingers together and stepping closer. "If you don't hold that insufferable tongue of yours, I just might lose my temper with you, woman!"

Bulma stood her ground. "Just try it!" she growled, balling her hands into fists and glaring fiercely at him, "and you'll find yourself minus one appendage, you stupid ape!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Goku cried, darting in and pushing them apart. "Cut it out, you guys! D'you want to kill each other before the fight even starts?!"

"Suits me fine," Bulma said, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at Vegita, "but he'd be the one to get killed."

"Hmph!" Vegita grunted, turning away and crossing his arms too. Goku laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"So what are we going to do?" Kuririn said anxiously. "If we aren't going to stop Gero before he creates them, what guarantee do we have that we'll stop them?"

"We'll all just have to train as hard as we can," Goku replied, his expression hardening slightly. "We have three years. And if this medicine Tr-... er, that kid gave me works, I'll be there to help. Maybe knowing what's coming will allow us to prepare for it."

"Well, I still say you're doing the wrong thing," Bulma sighed. "Goku, Gero was responsible for a lot of deaths back when he was working for the Red Ribbon. That man never should have survived in the first place. Suppose it isn't enough? Suppose that, after three years, we still aren't strong enough to defeat the Jinzouningen? Think of all the innocent people that are going to die from our mistake!"

"I'm sorry, Bulma," Goku said sternly, "but my heart tells me that killing Gero is the wrong thing. I can't blame you for wanting to be cautious, but I believe we can win. If we just do our best to improve before they arrive, I know we can defeat them!"

Bulma just shook her head. There was just no reasoning with Goku sometimes. "I hope you're right," she sighed.

"Hey Goku," Kuririn said, his face brightening as he thought of a great way to change the subject. "I almost forgot! Where the heck have you been all this time? Why did Porunga tell us that you didn't want to come home?"

"Oh yeah!" Goku cried. "Well, he wanted to transport me to Earth, but I asked him not to because I was too busy! I was doing some special training that I wanted to finish!"

"Special training?" Bulma asked, her interest having been sparked. "What special training? Where?"

"I think I'd better start from the beginning," Goku said, scratching his head and glancing upward thoughtfully.

"You can start with how you managed to escape Namek's destruction," Bulma said. "I've been wondering about that."

"Oh, that," Goku said, smiling. "I almost didn't make it; that's for sure. If I hadn't found that space pod there at the last second, I would have been toast!"

"That's a Ginyu pod," Vegita remarked, snorting in disgust.

Bulma grinned. "I bet it'd eat them alive if they knew that one of their pods had gone toward saving your life," she chuckled. "So you escaped Namek. Then what?"

"Well, when I got in the pod, I just pushed some buttons to make it go," Goku said, frowning. "I didn't know what I was doing, but Namek only had a few seconds left. Whatever I pushed must have worked. I shot off away from Namek just as it exploded, and just barely made it out of there in time. I ended up flying through space for a good three days before I crash-landed on a planet called Yardrat. It turned out that I was really lucky. The inhabitants were really nice, and they nursed me back to health. They're the ones who gave me the training I told you about."

"So, what kind of training was it?" Bulma asked impatiently. "C'mon, Goku, show us what you learned!"

Goku grinned. "I guess the best way to explain it _is_ to show it!" he said. "Here goes. Now watch this!" He waved at them for a few seconds, and then he just kind of faded out like a bad TV signal.

"Wha?" Kuririn gasped. "Where'd he go?"

Goku reappeared just as suddenly, and with an addition. He was wearing a pair of red-framed sunglasses, and he was grinning goofily at them. "Heh-heh," he said, adjusting them on his face. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"What?" Vegita snorted. "So you disappear, only to reappear with those? What's so incredible about that?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kuririn cried. "I recognize those! Those are Master Muten's shades, aren't they?"

"Heh-heh," Goku laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're right!" Bulma gasped. "But the Kame House's a long way away from here! How'd you get those, Goku? Is that a new technique?"

"Yep," Goku said proudly. "It's called Instantaneous Movement. The inhabitants of Yardrat weren't really strong, but they had a great way of getting around. This is how it works: you have to focus your senses on a chi source, and then you convert your body to energy and transmit yourself to the person you're focused on. I was going to use it to get here ahead of Freeza, but then I sensed Tru-... er, I mean, the boy from the future, and I realized that it wasn't necessary."

"Wow!" Kuririn cried. "Is it hard to do?"

"Naw," Goku said, shaking his head. "And it hardly takes any energy at all to do it. It's just a matter of making the conversion correctly."

Bulma grinned. What seemed easy for Goku usually took normal people years and years to master. He always did have a knack for picking up moves that he'd seen before.

"Here, Kuririn," Goku said, taking off the sunglasses and handing them to Kuririn. "I'll let you take these back to the old man. Tell him I'm sorry if I made him mad."

"Heh-heh," Kuririn chuckled as he put them on. "I can't wait to see the look on his face."

"So I guess that's it, then, huh?" Goku said, adopting a more serious expression. "We'll all go and train until the Jinzouningen appear. We'll meet three years from now on that island, at nine a.m. on May 12."

"Right," everyone but Vegita and Piccolo said in agreement.

"Kakarrot," Vegita said coldly. "I'm joining you in this battle, but I'll let you know right now that this changes nothing between us. When all this Jinzouningen business is over, I'm going to kill you next."

"Fine," Goku said, with the same confident grin he had used before. "Have it your way."

Without another word, Vegita blasted off for Capsule Corporation. Bulma sighed. Great. So she could look forward to a whole three more years of living around that unsettling, obnoxious, insufferable jerk. She could hardly wait.

"Well, that's it then," Kuririn sighed. "I suppose I'll get the old master to help me train. I'll want to be ready. How about you, Goku? What're you going to do?"

"I'm going home, first thing," Goku laughed, hugging Gohan. "I can't wait to see the look on Chichi's face when I walk in the door!"

"Yeah," Kuririn said impatiently, but smiling despite himself. "And then what?"

"Then it's off to the mountains to train for me and Gohan!" Goku said cheerfully. "You wanna come with us, Piccolo? It'd mean a lot to Gohan, and I know I could only get better if I had you as a sparring partner!"

"All right," Piccolo grunted, trying to keep from smirking at Gohan's gleeful expression, but his twitching mouth corners gave him away. "I suppose I can put up with your wife's screeching for a while, at least."

"You two wanna come too?" Goku asked Tenshinhan and Chaozu. "We could always use more!"

"I think Chaozu and I will train on our own," Tenshinhan replied, smiling briefly at Chaozu, who smiled back. "But thanks for the offer, Goku. Maybe we'll drop by sometime for a quick match or two."

"Okay," Goku said, nodding in understanding. "I hope you do. I don't suppose either of you are going to come either, huh?" he said, turning back and looking at Bulma and Yamucha with a friendly smile.

"Nah, I've got a long way to go before I'd consider sparring with you guys," Yamucha replied dejectedly. "I guess I'll just pick up where I left off with the gravity training at Bulma's. Besides, somebody's gotta keep Bulma outta trouble, right?" he added with a forced laugh.

Bulma shot him a resentful glare. "I'm going to have to pass you up on it too, Goku," she said, looking back at him. "I need to stay home for a while. Quite frankly, Vegita's caused more than a little tension with some people, who I think need to be watched," she added, glaring at Yamucha. "Besides, I don't think I could keep up with even Gohan, much less you two. I'll just train at my own pace. Us full-blooded humans don't quite measure up to the standards of Saiyans and Nameks," she laughed good-naturedly.

Everyone laughed, except for Piccolo, who only smirked a little. As they broke up and began flying their separate ways, Goku couldn't resist yelling one more thing at Bulma.

"Hope you have a healthy baby, Bulma!" he cried as he, Gohan, and Piccolo shot off for Mt. Paozu.

"Huh?" Bulma said, very much confused and surprised by his unexpected statement.

"Er..." Kuririn said, hesitating along with Bulma and Yamucha, who had both come to a dead stop at Goku's words. "Exactly what did Goku mean by that, Bulma? Are you gonna have a baby?"

"I don't see how!" Bulma snapped at him. "It wouldn't be physically possible, Kuririn! Goku's gotta be confused about something!"

Yamucha's cheeks were red and he had a very goofy grin on his face. "Maybe that boy from the future told him you were going to settle down with someone and start a family!" he said, giggling mischievously.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Bulma laughed angrily. "You can stop giggling like a kid, Yamucha! I certainly have no intention of starting a family with you! Write it off, pal!"

Yamucha only laughed and took off, leaving Bulma and Kuririn on the ground, staring at each other with confused looks. Finally, Bulma sighed and rose into the air.

"Ah well," she sighed. "Take care, Kuririn. You know you're always welcome to come train with us, don't you?"

"I know," Kuririn said, smiling, "but I don't think I'll come by too often. Gravity training's really not my thing."

"That's okay," she replied, smiling at him. "Just give me a ring if you change your mind." Then she and Kuririn parted ways and headed for home. Bulma grimaced on the way back to Capsule Corp. as a disturbing thought occurred to her. She was going to have to get over this nervous condition she'd developed if she was going to train herself as hard as she planned. At the very least she was going to have to regain her strength. Sighing, she decided that it was time for a short vacation away from home - and Vegita. If Yamucha bothered him and got himself creamed, then so be it. It'd be his own fault if he provoked Vegita into killing him. She smiled faintly as she mentally listed the things she'd need to pack for a few weeks of camping in the mountains.

†_Author's note:_

_The Japanese culture regards sneezing rather differently than we Americans do. In Japan, if you sneeze for no apparent reason, it is often thought that someone is talking about you. You will see many references to this belief in anime and manga. There are several examples in DB/Z other than the one I've mentioned. Go see for yourself!_


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46: Failure to Recuperate**

The next day, Bulma set out for the western mountains, camping capsules in tow. Her parents had seemed to like the idea of her taking it easy for a while, but Yamucha had been a little pouty when she'd refused to let him go with her. She had said that he needed to train hard while she was gone so that he could train with her when she got back. Of course, he had understood that, but he'd still wanted to join her. Oh well. She was pretty sure he'd get over it.

After a couple hours' flight, she was hovering over the fairly large mountain range, trying to decide where she wanted to set up camp. She could see some good-sized rivers running down the large valleys between the mountains, but she preferred something a little quieter and less imposing. She flew around toward the eastern face of one of the largest mountains and flew leisurely along above it, searching for a promising spot to try out. She finally settled on a place near the mountain's foot. It was a small clearing just inside a large forest of trees, flanked on one side by a small, spring-fed stream. It seemed like the perfect place to relax, so she decided that it would do nicely.

In less than an hour, Bulma had set up her tent and started a fire. She started a pot of water over it and sat down on a small but comfortable folding chair. Then she listened quietly to the sounds of the woods around her. It was nice and secluded out here, and she knew that she could get a lot of meditation done if she really wanted to. She could always go the Piccolo route, after all. Bulma was too adventurous to stay still for that long, however. It wasn't more than a half-hour before she had left the campsite to go prowling about in the woods. Technology freak though she was, she always did enjoy hiking out in the middle of nowhere. Totally secluded, untouched nature like this was hard to come by these days, and whenever she got the opportunity to go soak some of it up, she usually jumped on it.

Bulma spent the entire day and most of the evening hiking and exploring the twenty or so acres surrounding her campsite. She figured she'd better familiarize herself with the local topography in case she had to dash off somewhere for some reason. She kind of doubted anything would happen all the way out here, but you never knew out in mountains like these. Flash floods weren't uncommon, and neither were freak storms. She was on the windward side of the mountain, after all, and most of the weather hit that side. All the moisture in the air deposited itself on the eastern side, leaving nothing for the west, hence the large desert that spread out over hundreds of miles beyond the mountains. Bulma doubted she'd have anything to worry about if some kind of freak act of nature happened along, but nevertheless, it usually paid to be cautious.

That night Bulma built the fire up pretty high and recapsulized everything but the tent so as to not attract too much attention from the local scavengers. There were a lot of bears in these woods, and any food she left out would just be asking for trouble. She went to bed at around eight o'clock that night, but it had already been dark out for several hours when she did. Once the sun dipped below the peaks of the adjacent mountains, the light didn't remain for long.

Things remained pretty peaceful during the next week or so, and Bulma gradually began to regain her strength and vigor. The calm, steady peace of the mountains was having the desired effect on her state of mind, and the crisp, clean mountain air was doing wonders for her appetite. Everything was going quite well, and she didn't have a single unpleasant experience at all during her stay. She'd grown pretty friendly with the local wildlife too; it had gotten to the point where they were more curious than afraid of her. It seemed that every evening she had an occasional deer amble by for a quick peep at her, or one of the rabbits plucked up the courage to sneak up and sniff her tent. The real fun came from the predatory animals, though. It didn't take the bears long at all to get curious, and before long she had some regular visitors coming by to beg for a handout. She had plenty of food, and she didn't mind sharing, but she didn't want them to think all people were harmless, so she made sure to shoo them away whenever they got too comfortable around her. The mountain lions were hilarious, though. They seemed to have gotten it in their heads that they could intimidate her, and they tried pouncing on her once or twice, but she turned out to be better at wrestling than they were, so they soon gave that up. For some reason, though, Bulma got a kick out of egging them on, so sometimes she would pretend to be afraid of them, just to get them to chase her.

All in all, it was a very quiet, calming time that she had in the solitude of the mountains, and although by the end of the third week she knew she had to go back home, she really didn't want to leave. She knew she couldn't spend the whole time out there relaxing, though. She had less than three years to go before the Jinzouningen were scheduled to appear, and she wanted to get a good head start. Early on a Friday morning, Bulma packed up her things and headed out for home.

Much to her relief, she came back to find Capsule Corporation in one piece, along with Yamucha, who was still alive and very much uninjured, contrary to how she'd expected to find him. In fact, he and Vegita hadn't butted heads even once while she was gone. She was, at the very least, very impressed with Yamucha. Maybe he'd grown a brain recently or something. As for his training, he was now taking it very seriously indeed, having broken thirty-five g's already. Still, Bulma could tell that she was going to have to talk to her father about building another gravity room. Yamucha was getting stronger fast, but he hadn't caught up to her yet, and Bulma was determined to make the most of the time she had left - which meant pushing herself as hard as she could. She couldn't very well do that in only thirty-five g's.

Surprisingly, her father was very understanding about it all. She and Yamucha had sat down with him and her mother and told them about the upcoming situation with the Jinzouningen. He'd even agreed to start searching through all the scientific journals he had for anything on Dr. Gero, as per Bulma's request. At any rate, production began on Bulma's gravity room right away, and this time only Bulma and Dr. Briefs worked on it. Yamucha was still training hard, and Bulma had refused to let him stop to help her and her dad. They could handle it without him, even if it did take an extra couple of days' work to get it done. She'd told him that her old gravity room was his now, and that she hoped he'd be able to give her some competition from now on. Of course, he'd only grinned at that.

Bulma had the new gravity room configured for two hundred g's - just in case the impossible happened and she ever did break one hundred before time was up. They finished it after a couple of weeks, and Bulma began the process of breaking it in right away.

Bulma had seen neither hide nor hair of Vegita at all since she got home, but she knew where he was. He was locked in his gravity room all day - and most of the night on more than one occasion - training fiercely. He was still obsessed with surpassing Goku, and Bulma figured that if his savage training regimen didn't kill him, it might just help him achieve his goal. To have said that he was dedicated would have been a gross understatement.

The only good thing about Vegita's keeping himself locked in the gravity room was that he didn't spend as much time staring at her as he had in the past. He did come out every so often, though, and whenever he happened to run into Bulma, he rarely said anything. It was always very unsettling, because he would stare at her with an almost hungry look on his face - one that almost always sent her away in a hurry. She never could understand why he did that. Surely he must have known how terribly unnerving it was for her, but that apparently didn't mean anything to him, because he never did seem to make an effort to act normally around her. Of course, Vegita wasn't normal anyway, and Bulma was almost certain that he was just working himself too hard. The kind of training he was putting himself through would have killed a person like her after only the first day of it.

Whatever the reason for his unsettling behavior, Bulma eventually resorted to avoiding him altogether. Whenever she sensed him coming, she just did her best to get away. Really, it was easier that way, and less worrisome. As for Yamucha, he ignored Vegita entirely. This was definitely a good thing, and Bulma was very glad of it. At last she was beginning to feel like she didn't have to worry about any more fights occurring between the two of them, which gave her unheard of relief.

If not for these chance encounters she had with Vegita these days - which were few and far between, due to her rather evasive methods - Bulma might have been totally at ease for a change, and she figured she could definitely live with that. Things were finally beginning to settle down a little in her life, and Bulma was really getting into her training routine. Things were running so smoothly, in fact, that there were even times when Bulma actually forgot Vegita was around. Unfortunately though, such blissfully calm and worry-free times didn't often last in Bulma's complicated life, and it wasn't very long before all that peace and serenity blew all to pieces along with Vegita's gravity room.

Bulma had been, not surprisingly, training in her own gravity room when it happened. She had just turned the machine up to sixty for the first time when she heard - and felt - the ground-shaking explosion rock the compound. Crying out in surprise, she shut off the machine and raced outside to find out what had happened.

She followed the newly billowing cloud of dust and smoke to an overwhelming pile of rubble where Vegita's gravity room had been only seconds earlier. Bulma stared in horror at the devastation before her. She couldn't believe her eyes, but she realized at once what had happened. Vegita must have gone too far and lost control of his chi, letting it blow up and destroy the entire building. That was the only explanation. Bulma knew that had to have been the case, because there was no other way the design she and her father had worked out would ever have allowed for the building to totally break apart like this. Still, this was no time to worry about what went wrong. What was more important was the fact that she couldn't sense Vegita anywhere in there. She had to find him quick, because she was afraid that he might be in worse shape than his gravity room. She began digging frantically through the debris as Yamucha arrived.

"What happened?" he cried in amazement. "It's been completely obliterated!"

"Quick!" Bulma cried frantically. "Help me find Vegita! He's got to be under this stuff somewhere, and he's probably hurt! We need to get him out of here!"

Yamucha hesitated for a second, but not for much more than that. He soon was working the opposite end of the pile with a grim but determined look on his face. He rather doubted that Vegita had survived. He couldn't sense him either, and it was saying a lot when you couldn't feel the guy's power anywhere.

Suddenly a scratched and blood-smeared arm shot up out of the debris in front of Yamucha. He jumped back in surprise.

"Bulma!" he cried. "Over here!" Bulma didn't need to be told twice. She flew over and immediately started pulling all of the debris off of Vegita. She was throwing it back so fiercely, in fact, that Yamucha had to back off a little to avoid it. Within seconds, she had completely unearthed Vegita, and to her relief, found him still in one piece, albeit a battered, bloody, and broken one.

"Vegita!" she cried, carefully lifting his upper body until he was sitting upright. "Vegita, are you all right?"

He gave a raspy kind of chuckle. "Stop your shrieking, woman," he said, trying to rise. "What a fool question! Of course I am!" He was hurt worse than he thought, apparently, because he promptly fell back into Bulma's arms with a grunt of pain.

"No you're not, you big, dumb ape!" Bulma said fiercely, shaking with relief that he was still alive. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep training so hard, and you'll probably take all of the rest of us with you! Dammit, Vegita, you could have died!"

Vegita groaned, and he pushed himself upward again, this time succeeding in getting to his feet. He wobbled a bit as he turned around to face her. For once she didn't look away when his eyes locked onto hers.

"Feh," he snorted. "Don't be insulting! Such a tiny blast couldn't harm me! Just watch your step, woman, or I might get angry with y-..." He broke off suddenly as he blacked out, and he then fell with a crash down onto his back.

"Vegita!" she shrieked, stumbling through the rubble to his side. "Say something!" She lifted him up and shook him a bit. He had gone totally limp.

"Call the hospital!" Bulma ordered, pulling Vegita's arms over her shoulders and lifting him onto her back as she leaped into the air. "Tell them I'll be there with Vegita in five minutes!" She then rocketed off with him for the city, while Yamucha ran to the house for the phone.

- - - - -

It actually took Bulma six or seven minutes to get Vegita to the hospital, but that was because she was having trouble keeping his body balanced on her back. Vegita was a considerably bulky load, and his legs kept sliding off whenever she tried to pick up speed. Even unconscious, the man had to be difficult. Despite all that, she finally landed outside the hospital gate, where a doctor and a nurse had a stretcher waiting. They remained rooted in place when she landed, apparently too amazed at the sight of a person dropping down out of the sky to take the course of action that they normally followed with new emergencies.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Bulma snapped as she laid Vegita's broken body out on the stretcher. "This man needs treatment immediately!"

It took her a few more seconds to snap them out of it, and then they finally scurried their new patient into the hospital, while she followed closely behind. She let them wheel him off into the emergency room while she sat down in the lobby with all the paperwork they needed her to fill out about Vegita. That was definitely an experience. She didn't even know if Saiyans _had_ different blood types, much less what this one's was. She filled in all the fields to the best of her knowledge, and after giving the forms back to the nurse at the front desk, she waited impatiently for a doctor to come and tell her how badly Vegita'd been hurt.

After about an hour, a gray-haired, oddly familiar-looking doctor came out into the lobby and called her name. "Bulma Briefs?" he said, looking up from his charts.

"Yes?" she replied anxiously, jumping up and walking over to him. "That's me."

"You're the one who brought this uh... 'Vegita' in, am I correct?"

"Yes," Bulma said impatiently. "How is he?"

"He's suffered multiple fractures and contusions in a great many unrelated areas of his body," the doctor began, looking sternly at her over his medical chart. "Whatever got ahold of this boy did a very professional job of messing him up."

"Will he be okay?" Bulma pressed him, as lines of worry began to appear on her forehead.

"It's difficult to say," the doctor sighed, shaking his head. "It's my opinion that he'll probably not make it through the night. I must admit, however, that I thought the same thing of Son Goku when you brought him in."

Bulma realized all at once why this doctor had seemed so familiar to her. He was the one who had been in charge of all of them after the fight with Vegita and Nappa!

"Just what happened to this boy, Ms. Briefs?" the doctor said, eying her angrily. "And don't tell me that it was a fight with aliens, because I didn't believe it then, and I certainly won't believe it now."

Bulma sighed. "Whether you believe this or not is unimportant," she said, looking him straight in the eyes, "but it just so happens that the man I've placed in your care is none other than the very alien who attacked us last year. It's a long story, and I don't have time to tell it - not if what you say is true, and that Vegita has only a small amount of time left to live. I've got to go. Whatever you do, keep that man alive. I don't care if you have to put him on life support; just don't let him die!"

Before he could say anything in reply, she sprinted out the hospital doors and, after halting time, she shot straight for Karin tower. She prayed as hard as she could on the way there for Karin to have a Sensu bean on hand. It wasn't until she reached the tower and resumed time's flow that Bulma realized she didn't know exactly where Karin's place was. She'd been to Kami's lookout of course, but she'd never seen just where Karin's place was in the large structure. All she knew about it was from what Goku had told her, and he'd said it was in Karin tower. She looked all around it for something that might resemble an entrance to the gigantic bowl atop the tower, but she was having no luck.

"Yo, Bulma!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled from the underside of the bowl-shaped top. "Down here!"

"Yajirobe!" Bulma cried, flying down there to see him leaning over a small hole in the underside. "Is this where you live?"

"Yeah, Karin lets me stay here with him," Yajirobe said nonchalantly.

"Is he here?" Bulma said eagerly. "I've got to see him right away!"

"Who, Karin?" Yajirobe said. "Yeah, he's here. Come on in. He's right in here with me."

Bulma floated up into the little hole and found herself in a large, spacious room. She found - much to her surprise - that this room was open on all sides via a balcony that she had somehow missed seeing in her frenzied searching. Then she noticed the small, portly white cat with his cane, and she immediately bowed.

"Please, Karin-sama," she said quickly. "I'm dreadfully sorry to intrude on you like this, but I have an emergency! I need a Sensu bean from you if you have one!"

"And just why is that?" Karin asked politely.

"Vegita's badly injured," Bulma replied. "The doctors don't think he'll survive through the night, and I..."

"Calm down, Bulma," Karin said, raising a paw to silence her. "I already know what's going on. I just read your mind, and I have to say that this leaves me with a bit of a moral dilemma. On the one hand, Vegita has killed countless worlds of people, and because of that, he has most likely already doomed himself to Hell. On top of that, this recent fiasco is all his own fault. He lost control of himself in the gravity room, and he knew quite well that such a thing might happen if he pushed himself too hard. Because of all that, I don't really know if I ought to give you one for him."

"What?" Bulma gasped. "But Karin!"

"On the other hand," Karin continued, ignoring her protest, "he does seem to have changed a little bit. At least he's opted for hurting himself instead of others, and there's no denying that he will come in handy when those Jinzouningen show up..." He glanced downward as he seemed to be mulling it over in his mind.

"Please, Karin," Bulma pleaded. "I don't want him to die!"

"I know," Karin said, nodding solemnly at her, "and that's the main reason why I've decided to go ahead and give you what you came for." He tossed the small bean to her, and she all but glowed with relief.

"You have no idea how thankful I am for this!" she said, bowing deeply in her gratitude.

"Ah, consider it a favor to you," Karin said, waving it away. "I don't much care for Vegita, but I'm willing to give him a chance if you are."

Bulma was too elated to notice the strange look that he'd just given her. "I'm so glad," she sighed. "I'd better hurry then. There's no telling how much longer he has left!"

"Wait a minute," Karin said, causing her to stop. "Just so you know, the doctors are wrong. He would have been fine without that thing, because the truth is that he's not hurt nearly as badly as they think he is. Don't forget that Vegita's a Saiyan, and a damned stubborn one at that; it'll take a lot to snuff him out."

Bulma had been rendered utterly speechless. Karin chuckled at her with an amused, toothy grin.

"I know what you're thinking," he said with a smile, "and you should just forget about it. Don't think of this as a wasted trip. Think of it as a service to that hospital. I'd hate for Vegita to take out his frustration at being bedridden on the nurses! Just keep in mind, however," he added, adopting a more stern expression, "that the fact that these things grow on trees doesn't necessarily mean they're easy to come by. If Vegita pulls a boneheaded stunt like this again, don't bother coming here a second time. One chance is all I'm giving that guy."

"I understand," Bulma said, nodding gravely, "and thanks again for your kindness, Karin-sama. I'll never be able to repay you." She then turned to leave.

"One more thing," Karin said, causing her to stop again. "Kami's already told me about the Jinzouningen threat that's coming. I just thought I'd mention that I'll be laying in an extra large supply of beans for you folks, and that when the time comes, I'll send Yajirobe out there with them. I only hope that you won't be needing them."

"Thank you," Bulma said gratefully, bowing again. "I hope we won't either, but it's good to know they'll be available." She waved good-bye as she ran for the balcony. "Good-bye, Karin-sama!" she cried, taking off. "You're the best!"

"Heh-heh," he chuckled. "Yeah, I know."

- - - - -

Bulma arrived at the hospital just as Yamucha and her parents drove up. She told them what the doctor had said, and then what Karin had said, and they were all very relieved to hear that Vegita was going to be okay. They went into the lobby with Bulma, who asked the receptionist to let them in to see Vegita.

"I don't think so!" she said sharply. "I can't allow you all to go in there, as he's in no condition to have so many visitors! You'd better limit yourselves to just one. Any more, and I could lose my job!"

"I'll go," Bulma told the others. "I'll probably be the last person he'll want to see him like this, but at least I might be able to control him a little when he wakes up. Don't worry; I'll call to warn you before he leaves. Just go home and get things back to normal. I don't think either of us will be here for all that long. Oh, and Dad?" she added, turning back before following the nurse to Vegita's room. "Could you do me a big favor and begin reconstruction on Vegita's gravity room as soon as you get back? I'm going to let him use mine when he gets back, because I know there'll be some friction if he comes home to find that he doesn't have a place to train, and I definitely don't want to lose the use of mine forever!"

"You've got it, hon!" he said, nodding firmly. "I'll get right on it!"

"And I'll help him," Yamucha added with a smile. Bulma smiled back at him.

"Here, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said, handing her a small bundle. "It's a change of clothes for Vegita. He might prefer these over a hospital smock."

Bulma smiled. "Thanks," she said, hugging her mom appreciatively and waving good-bye at them all. "I'll see you all not long after he gets back."

"Oh, and Bulma!" Yamucha called, grinning impishly at her. "Try not to let Vegita blow up the hospital!"

Bulma stuck her tongue out at him and followed the nurse down the hallways until they entered a well-lit, single-patient room with nice, big windows. Vegita was bandaged from head to foot with only his face showing through, and he was still asleep on his bed. They had a heart monitor going on him, and an IV dripping an unknown liquid was sticking out of his wrist, but aside from that, there wasn't much else in the way of equipment on him.

"You can go ahead and leave us," Bulma said, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. "I'm going to wait here with him until he wakes up."

"All right," the nurse said, looking at her with a great deal of pity in her eyes. Bulma just smiled at her. She figured the nurse probably thought she was in denial or something. Well, they were all in for a big surprise; that was for sure!

Bulma sighed as the nurse quietly exited the room. She would have liked to have given Vegita the Sensu bean right away, but she supposed she'd just let him sleep for a while, and she'd give it to him when he woke up. It would just figure that if she tried to feed the thing to him now, he'd choke on it just to spite her. She sighed and shook her head. The big dope. She didn't expect to receive any gratitude from him for giving him the bean; she knew better than that. The only real reason she was going to wait here with him was because she'd figured that somebody should stay to keep him from killing someone when he woke up.

She sat in the guest chair beside his bed and yawned. It was going to be a long day. Bulma stayed in there with him all day, and when he didn't wake up, she stayed all that night and on into the morning. She dozed off sometime after ten but awoke early the next morning to the sounds of Vegita's bed squeaking.

"Huh?" she said groggily, starting as she awoke. "Whuzzat?" Yawning, she blinked and looked up. Vegita was sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at her with a rare look of surprise.

"Oh," Bulma said, yawning again. "Awake already, huh? Goes to show how little that doctor knew about Saiyans, I guess."

"Where the hell am I?" Vegita asked quietly, looking a bit more annoyed than usual.

"You're at a hospital," Bulma said, getting up and stretching a bit. "I brought you here. It's a bit more primitive than the healing processes you're used to, I know, but it was all I could think of at the moment."

"If you think you're going to keep me here, you're out of your mind," Vegita said coldly.

"As much as I'd love to," Bulma said dryly, shooting him an angry grin, "I know better. Here." She took the Sensu bean out of her pocket and held it up for him to see. "Remember these?" she asked him, noting the way his eyes shot open when he saw it. "It's the same as the one Goku gave you on Namek. Bon appetit." She poked it into his mouth, which was hanging open in surprise.

"Oh yeah," she said, rummaging through the bundle her mother had given her while Vegita chewed furiously and began ripping bandages off of himself. "Mom brought you a change of clothes. Hospital clothes are... well, they don't cover much." Bulma pointed briefly to the smock he was wearing and tossed him the clean blue sweat suit her mother had packed him. Then she quickly spun around as he ripped the paper-thin hospital smock off of himself.

"One more thing," she said, shivering a little at his lack of modesty. "I'm giving you permission to use my gravity room until we get yours fixed. My machine only goes up to two hundred, so you'll just have to make do, but if you dare try blowing mine up, I'll finish the job your old one did on you!" she snapped, whirling around to glare at him, only to find an empty bed and an open window. Growling angrily, she stomped out of the room to go call home, and then tell the doctor that his patient had just checked himself out.

Bulma had a hard time explaining to the doctor that Vegita was back to full health, but of course, she didn't blame him for being skeptical. She did explain to him about Sensu beans, but he said he didn't put much stock into holistic practices, and he didn't believe a word of it. However, after some gentle coaxing – and a generous donation from the Capsule Corporation to construct a new pediatrics wing for the hospital – the hospital board of directors persuaded him to let it go.

- - - - -

When Bulma returned home, she found the whole compound in an uproar. It just so happened that Yamucha had given Vegita a formal greeting not long after he had returned, and he had done so by making a snide comment about Vegita's carelessness with the gravity room. Naturally, Vegita had simply knocked Yamucha into the side of his own gravity room, where he'd smashed completely through the wall, leaving a large, gaping hole on one side. Then Vegita had made a similar comment regarding Yamucha's carelessness with _his_ gravity room, and that had been the beginning of the end. Yamucha was now on the verge of flying at Vegita, and Bulma's parents were doing their best to hold him back.

"Go ahead and let the fool go," Vegita laughed as Bulma landed a few paces behind him. "Let me put him out of his misery!"

Bulma marched straight up behind Vegita and clobbered him on one side of his head. She then marched straight up to Yamucha and did the same thing to him. "Stop it, both of you!" she yelled, her chi flaring brilliantly as she glared first at one and then at the other. "I thought we were through with this already! Now, I don't care what started this, but it's going to stop, and I mean right now!"

Vegita, apparently unaffected by Bulma's form of reprimand, only smirked at her, while Yamucha rubbed his head where she'd belted him. "Your friend seems to disagree," Vegita said casually, as Yamucha glared back at him with contempt. "Why don't you mind your own business, woman, and let us continue this? Only a pathetic weakling would hide behind a woman!" he added, leaning to one side and shooting a taunting sneer at Yamucha.

Yamucha howled in fury and broke free of Dr. Briefs' and Mrs. Briefs hold on him. Before he had taken even two steps, Bulma executed a swift, sharp chop to the back of his neck, knocking him senseless. He then fell unceremoniously in a crumpled heap onto the ground.

"Whatever happens at Capsule Corporation _is_ my business," she said icily, turning slowly to face Vegita, "and I won't have you disturbing what little peace we have left around here, Vegita. Do you understand me?"

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs looked on worriedly. Vegita shot Bulma an "I'll do whatever the hell I please," smirk, but he gave no verbal reply. Still, it achieved more or less the same effect the actual words would have.

"Mom... Dad," Bulma said quietly. "Take Yamucha into the house and stay there. I'd like a few words alone with Vegita."

"Oh, but dear," Mrs. Briefs said in protest, trying to reason with her. "You can't possibly..."

"Just do it," Bulma said softly, her eyes ablaze with fury, but focused staunchly on Vegita. Her parents could tell that there would be no use in arguing with her, so they quickly picked Yamucha up and did as she asked.

When they had left Bulma and Vegita to themselves, Vegita crossed his arms and shot her an arrogant smirk. "Just what words would you like to waste my time with?" he jeered at her.

Bulma's fists were clenched, and so were her teeth. "How dare you?" she asked him, her voice dangerously calm and quiet. "You are a guest in my house, Vegita. I didn't invite you to stay here so that you could kill my friends. If anything, it was to prevent you from killing the rest of the human race! I had hoped that, at least if you were here, you'd be able to find ways to keep yourself out of trouble and make your life on this planet worthwhile to you. You can't even seem to manage the first part, and at this point, I don't much care about the latter anymore."

"Let me guess," he snorted at her. "You're going to tell me to behave myself, or you'll administer this long-referenced bloody death you have reserved for me, am I correct? Feh! You're all bark and no bite, woman. Quit wasting my time with idle threats when you know damned well that they'll never amount to anything."

That had done it. She had exhausted every last bit of patience she had on him. Without even thinking about what she was doing, she stopped time and lunged at him, viciously slamming him face-first into the ground and pinning him there securely before allowing time to resume its pace.

"I can do much more to you than this, you know," she growled at him as he grunted in surprise at finding himself thus rearranged. "In only the briefest of moments, I have an eternity to prepare such horrors for you that you wouldn't dare imagine in your most terrible nightmares. I am not a weakling, and I am not going to let you have your way, Vegita. Do you understand me?" Her voice was soft and menacing, and her lips were only inches away from his ear as she uttered her threatening words. She had never been more intent on driving her point home in her life. She wasn't about to let Vegita ruin everything that she'd worked so hard to achieve during her vacation. He had to be put in his place somehow, and if she had to use dirty tricks to do it, then so be it.

Vegita's Saiyan blood stirred in response to her obvious challenge, and he grinned evilly. "Relying on that time trick of yours puts you at a severe disadvantage," he chuckled sinisterly, shoving off of the ground and righting himself with virtually no effort at all. She had anticipated something of this sort, and she had been ready, as she neatly leaped away from him before he could reach for her. "You're too weak to do any substantial damage with it," he continued, grinning broadly at her as she landed some ten feet away from him. She immediately dropped her defenses and stood confidently before him. He chuckled. "If you don't use it, though, you can't even land a hit on someone like me. You talk big, woman, but even someone as lacking in sense as you must realize that you'll never truly be a threat to me."

"Of course you think so, Vegita," she sighed, her voice laden with pity and disappointment as she shook her head at him. "That puts _you_ at a disadvantage. Underestimating me can get you killed, and if you push me hard enough, that could very well happen. It'd be so easy," she murmured, strolling casually up alongside him. She lightly trailed a fingertip around his neck as she walked fearlessly and nonchalantly in a tight arc around behind him. He stood his ground and made no move to attack her, so she pressed her luck further and wrapped one hand around one side of his neck and tapped him lightly on the belly with the tips of the fingers on her other hand. "With something as simple as a knife, I could cut off a finger or two without any trouble," she said seductively, tickling his ear with her breath as she leaned in close to ensure that he could clearly hear her subdued words. "I could just as easily gut an arrogant Saiyan bastard like a fish if I really believed that he deserved it. Perhaps you're right, though," she said thoughtfully, releasing him and wandering away a few paces as she folded her arms behind her back and stared up at one of the clouds that were lazily meandering across the reddening sunset sky. "Perhaps I'm mistaken, and I'm not really a threat to you, Vegita. After all, Saiyans couldn't possibly be affected by something as primitive as a sharp knife, even when its potential was added to your inability to block my attack while time stands still."

She held her position, with her back to him and her stance relaxed, and she waited silently to hear what he would say. She had never tried something so risky around him before, and although she had masked her lack of confidence marvelously, her face was pale, and her eyes were wide. Now was the deciding point of her entire effort. If he resisted her now, she was sure she would be unable to break him, as she was completely out of cards to play. This was her last trump, and although it was a doozy, it was entirely possible that it wouldn't sway someone as reckless and prideful as he was.

Vegita was admittedly very stunned. He had never heard her speak this way before. Normally her threats were nebulous and laughable, but this... this was an entirely different matter. She had captivated him with the fearless way she had touched him, and she had chilled his blood with her jarring words. It was as though she had cast a spell upon him; he had been virtually unable to do anything more than listen. Although he never would have told her so, he suddenly found himself a little in awe of her brazen maneuver. Still, she had failed to take one crucial piece of information into account, and because of that, he knew that he still had the upper hand.

Feeling that she had made her point when he didn't respond, she unfolded her arms and began walking away from him with light, placid steps. She soon began to feel a liberating kind of rush, and her pale cheeks quickly reddened a bit in response. She had done it. She had finally managed to intimidate Vegita!

Her confidence was short-lived, however, as Vegita hadn't conceded anything yet. Before she even knew what was happening, he had appeared in front of her, and he seized her upper arms in his hands and pinned them tightly against her sides, remembering how this tactic had affected her on Namek, and wondering if it would do the same here. He stared at her surprised face with a strangely grim expression on his, and when she glared at him, his gaze didn't waver.

Bulma knew that their next exchange of words would be critical to her success. She had to do whatever it took to make him take her seriously. "Let go of me, Vegita," she demanded quietly, her eyes flashing daggers at him. "Right now."

"Kill me," he replied, his voice just as quiet, but much more demanding than hers. "If you want me to let go, then go ahead and gut me like a fish."

The calm, quiet way he'd said it made goosebumps pop up on Bulma's skin. He was serious! She stared at him in astonishment, but he offered her no sign of hesitation in either his expression or his grip on her arms. He was going to make her follow through with her threats!

"Excuse me?" she sputtered, gaping at him in disbelief and hoping for all she was worth that she could get away with this without having to actually injure him. "Have you entirely lost your mind?"

"Go ahead," he urged her, pouncing upon the crucial lapse he'd just seen in her resolve. "It'd be so easy, wouldn't it? After all, once you stop time, I'll be entirely at your mercy. Why do you hesitate?"

Bulma felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she realized that once again, he had beaten her. Of course she wasn't going to kill him. She'd never killed anyone in her life, and the last time she'd almost done it to _him_, it had been a total disaster. Even if he was an overbearing jerk, he hadn't done anything terrible enough to her to warrant execution. Her trump card had been trumped by his fearlessness. He was calling her bluff, and she knew it.

"Do you have any idea how much I hate you?" she hissed, baring her teeth and glaring at him contemptuously. "Even if I can't bring myself to kill you, don't think I wouldn't be sorely tempted to at least undo some of what that damned Sensu bean did earlier. I can't believe I actually flew all the way to Karin tower and _begged _him to give me one of those things_. _You disgust me, you insufferable slime!" She glared angrily and defiantly at his face, and all at once she thought she saw a spark of triumph flicker in his charcoal eyes. They glinted at her like two onyx stars, and she felt a cold shiver run through her body in response. She stubbornly shut her eyes to ward off the unwelcome invasion of her resolve, but she discovered with no small degree of alarm that she wasn't able to escape from their piercing gaze so easily this time. She could still see them as they mercilessly stripped her bare of all her false bravado and feigned confidence. She quickly reopened her eyes and found them laughing mockingly at her, just as Vegita was with that insufferable smirk of his. Was he completely unshakable? Was he like those terrible eyes, which never seemed to relent?

Vegita's expression immediately brightened, and he chuckled in satisfaction as he realized that she had fallen back to raging harmlessly at him again. She really didn't ever learn. "My, my," he murmured, shaking his head and staring at her with bright, triumphant eyes. "I must say that I am quite intimidated by you right now. The way you have me completely at your mercy is making my legs quake in fear."

Bulma would have become enraged even more by his statement, had it not been for her making the grave mistake of focusing on his eyes again. It was beyond all belief to her, but no matter how hard she fought against them, they always managed to succeed in drawing her into them like some kind of devilish snare. Her anger had already begun to ebb away as she found herself growing uneasy and subsequently falling back into the old fear which she had hoped so fervently that she had already conquered. He was staring at her again, and this time, those eyes of his seemed to have more of an evil presence than she'd ever seen in them. His derisive words and taunting laughter had already been forgotten. Bulma began to pale as all at once she came to the frightening conclusion that she had fallen into an inescapable trap.

Vegita realized that she had begun to act strangely on him, and he stared curiously at her as her face slowly lost its color, and her breathing began to quicken. What was happening to her? Normally she would have become explosively angry by such a teasing comment, but for some reason, she had gone stiff in his hands, and she was acting very out of character indeed. He wondered if perhaps she had become afflicted by some sort of ailment, and he pulled her toward him to inspect her face for signs of an unknown malady.

As she felt him draw her more closely to him, a little switch went off in Bulma's mind, and a surge of panic swiftly rose within her. What was he doing? Why was he bringing her so near to those terrible, demonic eyes of his? She couldn't stand it; they were too overwhelming and unforgiving. She began to tremble as terror crept into every inch of her body, and even her instincts to escape became forgotten in the grip of her irrational fright. Every muscle in her body was frozen, and she was unable to do anything to escape the terrible, beckoning black portals that drew her ever closer to them.

"Please..." she whispered feebly, her voice barely audible to her over the frenzied beating of her heart. "Please no..."

Vegita understood at last why she was acting so strangely. She had become petrified by fear. What in blazes could he possibly have done to evoke such a drastic reaction as this? She was breathing erratically, and her entire body was trembling so violently that one would have thought she was standing naked in frigid temperatures. Logic warned him that if he didn't release her soon, he might actually cause permanent damage to her mind, but his instincts held him back. He could feel the warmth of her skin through his fingers, and he could smell her scent better now than he had in a very long while. He wasn't willing to loose his hold on her just yet; he was far more eager to experience her closeness for as long as he could.

Without realizing at first that he was doing it, he slowly began to pull her more closely toward him, gradually easing her face nearer to his as he stared relentlessly into her widened, terrified eyes. Under normal circumstances, he could easily have seen that she only became more panicked the closer he came, but in this brief moment, he had all but lost the will to heed his reason. Her quivering lips were like open arms to him, beckoning him into their soft embrace and reassuring him that he was surely welcome. He was less than an inch away. What did it matter if he continued? It was the only course of action that made sense, after all.

Bulma was indeed becoming more and more frantic as she saw the menacing chasms of his eyes pulling her ever closer into the abyss. She had never witnessed a fury and power like this, much less in such a heavy concentration, and it frightened her – oh, it frightened her to her very core! She tried to scream as she felt herself slipping into their darkness, but in reality, all that managed to escape her lips was a weak, shuddering moan. It was too late now; she had gone beyond the singularity - past the point of no return. She saw herself plunging headlong into the ebony doom, and then all at once, she had left herself entirely.

Her eyes fluttered closed and her head fell back as, exhaling a heavy sigh, her body fell limp in Vegita's powerful grip. She no longer knew the fear and agony of being drawn against her will into his portals to the chaos within; she knew nothing at all, as a matter of fact. For the first time in her life, Bulma had fainted.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: I Want You**

Vegita was immediately shaken from his trance-like state when her face fell back away from his. He let out a grunt of surprise and realized all at once what he had been doing, and that her chi had become strangely subdued. He stared at her in consternation as he hefted her limp body and tilted his head from one side and then to the other and tried to figure out just what she was up to. When she didn't give him any indication that she was conscious, he gave her a light shake. She remained completely unresponsive, and all at once he let out a gasp of astonishment as he realized what had happened to her. Bulma would have been the last person alive that he'd ever have expected to faint!

A reckless, dangerous, and irresistibly tempting idea occurred to him, whereupon he scowled at her and furrowed his brow as though he was considering something difficult. It must not have been too difficult, as he didn't hesitate more than a few moments. After first letting out a menacing, possessive growl and glancing around to make sure that no one was on their way out to either confront him or take her away, he quickly hoisted her over one shoulder and shot up into the sky with her. He took off at blinding speed toward the western horizon, zooming far out of sight in mere seconds. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs burst out of the house, having watched the events of the past few minutes from the hall window.

"What on Earth do you suppose he intends to do with her?" Dr. Briefs cried, with far more than a hint of panic present in his voice.

"I don't know dear," Mrs. Briefs said anxiously, clasping her hands together as she usually did when she was really worried about something, "but I do know that Vegita has... well, he's had his eye on Bulma ever since he first came here to live with us. I... I'm all but positive that he's fallen for her."

"Oh no..." Dr. Briefs groaned, shaking his head. "Poor Bulma."

"She's been entirely unaware of it," Mrs. Briefs continued. "I'm afraid it's going to come as a terrific shock to her whenever she does find out. I just hope Vegita's not planning to do anything rash. I doubt he'd do anything to hurt Bulma, but I didn't like that wild, desperate look on his face. I wish I knew what he was thinking. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Should we try to wake Yamucha?" Dr. Briefs asked hopefully, trying to come up with at least some plan of action. He wasn't a man for just sitting around and letting things happen.

"I don't think that's a good idea at all," Mrs. Briefs said firmly, shaking her head. "If Yamucha did manage to find where they are, Vegita would be sure to kill him, and Bulma would never be able to forgive herself. No, I'm afraid this is one fight that she's going to have to face alone. I'm just as worried about her as you are, dear, but there's nothing we can do to help her now."

"What do you suppose happened to her, anyway?" Dr. Briefs asked, furrowing his brow a little. "As near as I could tell, Vegita didn't exactly _do_ anything to her. It looked as though he was about to kiss her, but why would that have knocked her unconscious like that?"

"I don't think she was struck unconscious, dear," Mrs. Briefs murmured, shaking her head again. "I think she must have fainted."

"Bulma? Faint?!" Dr. Briefs gasped in a very shocked voice. "I don't believe it! My Bulma is easily the most plucky, courageous girl in the world! There's no way she'd faint over something as harmless as a kiss! What on Earth could scare her, of all people, so badly that she'd faint?"

Mrs. Briefs shook her head sadly. "Perhaps Vegita could." Her husband stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, and she sighed and shook her head again. "I think he just frightened her so much that she was unable to handle it," she explained. "Bulma's told me before how terribly afraid of him she is. This last confrontation with him could possibly have shaken her very badly. I think it must have been too much for her."

"She's mentioned her fear of the boy to me too," Dr. Briefs muttered anxiously. "I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. What reason could she have to be so afraid of him? He hasn't ever done anything to her, has he?"

"Not as far as I know," she replied. "I don't understand why she's so afraid of him either, but she is, nonetheless. I don't know what Vegita's planning to do with her, but I'm sure that whatever it is, Bulma's not likely to give him an easy time of it."

"Well, I can say this much," Dr. Briefs said, his expression darkening. "If I find out that he's harmed her in any way, I'll kill him."

"Please don't be like that," Mrs. Briefs said in a gentle but reproachful voice. "That's a terrible thing to say. Besides, I don't think you'd be able to kill Vegita anyway, dear. The man trains in gravity so intense it would flatten you into a pancake if you ever tried it."

"I don't need to fight with him to kill him," Dr. Briefs retorted indignantly, "and I don't care if it _is_ a terrible thing to say. I won't have him terrorizing our daughter and scaring her out of her wits. If I find out he's done something to her, all it'll take is a little poison his food, or maybe even closing off the exhaust vents to his gravity room. It really wouldn't be all that difficult. That'd be the end of him, and we'd have nothing further to worry about. You'd be surprised by how simple it would be to kill such a man."

Mrs. Briefs gaped at her husband with an astonished and very mortified expression. "I haven't heard you talk like this since..." she gasped, and her words failed her when she decided that she'd rather not bring that painful memory back up. "You're actually serious, aren't you?!"

"You're damned right I am!" he replied fiercely. "That's our daughter he's dragged off with him! I would do anything in my power to protect her from anything or anyone threatening her safety, and that most definitely includes Vegita!" He scowled darkly at the setting sun and balled his hands into tight fists. "You'd better believe I'll entertain the idea of killing that man if I find out he's done something to our daughter. I'd do the same thing if anything or anyone was threatening you."

Mrs. Briefs just gazed in silent astonishment at her husband. She had always hoped that she'd never have to see this side of him again, but here it was, and she didn't like it one bit. What could she do, though – tell him that he was wrong to be so concerned? She couldn't do that with any certainty, since she didn't know exactly what was going on between Bulma and Vegita. It was entirely possible that she was missing some vital piece of information that caused matters to differ from her view of them. As unsure of her own convictions as she was at the moment, however, there was one thing that she believed wholeheartedly; Vegita wouldn't kill Bulma. He had become far too enamored with her for that. She had always trusted Vegita too much to suspect him of wanting to harm her daughter in any way, and she still clung to that trust, despite his recent actions. She only hoped that, for Bulma's sake, her trust in the gruff Saiyan man was well-placed. For now, all they could do was wait and see how things would play out.

- - - - -

Vegita frowned uncomfortably as Bulma stirred a little in her restless slumber. She was taking too damn long to wake up, he thought with a fair amount of displeasure. Perhaps if it had been under different circumstances, he simply would have shaken her awake, but now things were different, and although he would never have admitted it to anyone, he was too nervous to hasten along what was to come. Instead, he simply studied her troubled face as he waited, with every one of his nerves painfully on edge.

Vegita had taken Bulma to a place where, to his own knowledge at least, none but he himself had ever visited – a place to which he had made frequent visits in the days prior to the construction of the gravity buildings. It was a large cave in the western desert, and it was the very place in which he had sought refuge from his fatigue after wearing himself out with harsh desert training. It had withstood many centuries of wear and weather, and it would no doubt see many more. This cave had been his haven for many months.

Vegita didn't feel secure here tonight, however. On the contrary, it was one of the rare times when he was truly afraid. He was afraid all right – afraid of what he was about to do, and even more afraid of how _she_ was going to react to it. The thought filled him with self-loathing and disgust, but he had nonetheless known for far too long that he had to do this. He could no longer ignore the turmoil that was raging inside him, and when she had fainted in his arms, he had recognized his chance to silence it once and for all. With hardly a moment's hesitation, he had seized his opportunity, and now he would do the only thing that could quell the discontent and frustration that constantly plagued his mind for so very long. Tonight, he was going to tell her in plain words what he had been trying to tell her through his actions during the past several months. Once he had conquered that obstacle, he would have an even more difficult task, but that would have to come later. It would be difficult enough tonight as it was with only the first hurdle he had ahead of him.

Suddenly Bulma moaned, and her eyelids twitched a little as her senses began to return to her. Vegita's muscles tensed, and he watched silently and attentively as she groggily opened her eyes. Her pupils shrank a little in the dim light, and she blinked a few times to try to rid them of the fuzziness that plagued them. "So it begins," he thought with a grim scowl.

Bulma's first conscious thought was that she had a painful crick in her neck, and she moaned in response to the discomfort. She must have slept funny, she thought to herself. However, as the sounds, smells, and the draftiness of the cave – not to mention the hardness of the floor – tickled her senses with unfamiliarity, she realized all at once that she was not at home in her bed. Where was she, and how had she come to be here? She struggled to remember what had happened before she had blacked out, and the hazy memory of Vegita's piercing, inescapable gaze began to loom over her conscious mind. Beyond that, she could think of nothing. Why couldn't she remember anything after that? She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her vision. Although she was somewhat afraid of what she might find, she had to see for herself what had happened to her.

The scene that met her eyes both startled and confused her. There were strange shadows flickering and dancing on what appeared to be an uneven, rocky ceiling directly above her. The crackling and popping sounds in the background told her that this odd play of shadows was the result of a small fire behind her. As her senses gradually began to sharpen, she realized with a fair amount of concern that she could sense another presence in this room, or whatever it was. As her chi sense quickly regained its usual acuteness, it alerted her to the fact that, not only was there another presence in this room, but it was also unmistakably one that she recognized.

She cried out in alarm and sat upright, shrieking in terror upon seeing Vegita – who was sitting cross-legged with his hands resting passively in his lap – a mere seven feet away from her. He made no movement at all in response to hers, but his eyes were attentively following her movements with a grim, almost nervous kind of zeal. She froze almost immediately and held one shaking arm up in front of her, as if to defend herself from him, while planting the other one on the ground behind her for support.

"Whuh!" she cried in frantic confusion, her breathing becoming erratic as she looked wildly about to try to discover where she was. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in a cave in the western desert," he told her, his voice eerily calm and quiet. He gazed intently at her with his cold, charcoal eyes, and he noted the erratic pattern of her breathing with grave disapproval. He sincerely hoped that she wouldn't faint on him again; the waiting had been bad enough the first time. "You and I are the only living creatures around for hundreds of miles."

All at once Vegita realized that his frank choice of words might not have been the most calming thing he could have told her. Bulma's eyes opened terribly wide, and her face paled dramatically. She shook her head at him as her mouth opened and closed without making any sound. She did manage to utter an unintelligible squeaking sound as she scrambled to her feet, but her words failed her for a few more moments as she anxiously backed herself up against the wall of the cave in an effort to put more distance between him and herself.

"Wh-what are you planning to do to me?" she asked him, eying him fearfully as she dreaded the possibility that he might suddenly lunge at her. She knew at once what this was about. He had brought her here to get back at her somehow for threatening him earlier. What he would do to her was a mystery, but at least she felt sure of his motive. "Why have you brought me all the way out here, Vegita?" Her terrified voice was cracking with emotion, and her entire body was quaking so violently that she quickly found herself unable to stand on her unsteady legs. With a frightened yelp, she dropped rather clumsily to her knees and immediately snapped her head back up to stare at him with wide, petrified eyes, lest he might seize his chance to attack her when her guard was down. She was beside herself with fear, and although she could easily have escaped him if she had been in a more rational state of mind, she was unable to even recognize it as a possibility in her despair. He had her cornered, and there was nothing she could do to stop him from carrying out whatever evil designs he had in mind for her.

Vegita let out an impatient growl as he folded his arms and scowled testily at her. "I didn't bring you to this place to hurt you!" he snapped angrily at her. "Stop cringing, dammit! I won't have you acting like a cowering fool around me, do you understand?"

Bulma flinched at his harsh tone. "Then..." she said shakily, unsure of whether or not she dared believe him, "why _did_ you bring me here? Please... what do you want from me?"

Vegita expelled an angry, tired sigh as he shook his head at her in disgust. "You ask too many stupid questions," he muttered, standing up and walking to the far end of the cave before leaning up against the wall, crossing his arms and scowling deeply. "When you fainted, I decided that I'd had enough of your cowardly habits and pathetic cringing. I've brought you here to cure you of them, and to make it clear to you just what it is that I want. You're so damned thick that you've been unable to catch the blatantly obvious signals I've been sending you, so I can see that I'm just going to have to be as blunt as possible about it. Stupid fool."

He paused to stare at her, and Bulma lowered her eyes and shuddered as she felt herself become entangled in that eerie, hungry gaze of his again. She listened in nervous anticipation as he turned back away from her and held the silence for a bit longer, as though he was gathering his resolve for something big. What on Earth was on his mind, and what was all this he was saying about signals, anyway?

Vegita took a deep breath, and after turning toward her again, he said the words that had been on his lips for a painfully long time. "I want you," he growled fiercely, uncrossing his arms and staring at Bulma with a disturbing gleam of intensity lunging out at her from each glittering pupil. "I've wanted you ever since I first laid eyes on you. You have no idea how maddening it's been; trying to ignore these ridiculous urges when you've always been right there in front of me. Well, I'm not going to ignore them any longer. It's high time you knew about this and took responsibility for this curse that you've inflicted upon me."

Bulma's face had in mere moments lost all of the color that had previously returned to it. "You're lying," she croaked, shuffling back a few inches until she had again reached the wall of the cave and was unable to retreat any farther. "You hate me! You hate all Earthlings!"

Vegita laughed a bizarre laugh. "Ironic, isn't it?" he chuckled, shaking his head and shooting her a wry grin. "Nonetheless, it's the truth. To think that a pathetic weakling like you could so utterly conquer my mind... it's astounding and infuriating. I've spent countless nights enduring insufferable dreams about you and all the pleasures I'd like to share with you. You've become a god-damned obsession to me, and all the while you've remained infuriatingly ignorant of it. My infernal desire for you has become such a distraction to me that it's actually interfering with my training! I won't tolerate this madness any longer. You need to come to grips with this, and you need to stop acting like such a terrified fool around me whenever I so much as look at you."

"No!" Bulma screamed, leaping to her feet. "It isn't true! You're lying!"

"No," Vegita replied coldly, staring fixedly at her. "I'm not. Do you honestly think I'd have wasted my time saving your scrawny neck on Namek if things hadn't been the way I say they are? Do you think I'd have let you live when we first met on the battlefield here on Earth, if I hadn't been so taken with you? Although I may not have fully understood the depths of my desire at those times, I nevertheless acted upon it without hesitation. This isn't just a whim, woman. I'm being entirely serious with you."

Bulma's breathing was coming to her in frantic gasps, and she wildly searched her mind for something – anything that would explain away the impossible words he had said with such a grave, serious expression. "But... but you want me dead!" she shrieked hysterically. "Don't you remember? I sabotaged your gravity room! Surely you can remember that! You were going to kill me for it, weren't you?"

Vegita snorted at her and shook his head. "Don't be absurd," he chided quietly. "I'd have done nothing of the sort. If I had truly wanted you dead I could have killed you in an instant. The truth of the matter was that killing you was the furthest thought from my mind. I was more overwhelmed by my desire for you then than I had ever been, and it was nearly beyond my capability to keep from doing something unforgivable to you. You'll never know just how dangerously close I came to losing control of myself when I had you in my clutches that night." He gave a slight shudder, and Bulma could see that simply remembering the event had evoked a powerful sensation in him, and it caused her to panic even further.

"But _why_?" she asked desperately. "I humiliated you! I could have killed you! At the very least I might have injured you! How could you not have wanted to kill me for doing something so terrible to you?"

Vegita shot her a wry smirk, as though he had expected this question. "Because," he said in a cool, patient voice, "you did something to me that night that no woman – Saiyan or not – had ever done. You defeated me. It had been a brief victory, true – and a very sneaky one on your part – but I had undeniably been defeated. Although you had been completely ignorant of the significance of your astounding feat, you had just accomplished something that was, in Saiyan culture, an almost unthinkable honor for any woman to achieve. As a general rule, Saiyan women are considerably weaker than Saiyan men. Should one defeat a man in battle, she is regarded not only as a powerful warrior, but also as a highly attractive mate. You – a mere human woman, yet – had not only defeated a Saiyan man, but you had managed to topple the most powerful Saiyan to have lived in a thousand years!

"As it so happened, I had already decided quite some time ago that I would claim you as my own, but when you defeated me, my desire was intensified nearly to the brink of madness. In order to avoid forcing you into something I knew you weren't prepared to accept, I channeled this energy into a fierce anger that I could direct at you instead, so as to keep my urges in check. I never found out if it would work, though, because that simpering fool interrupted me."

Bulma couldn't take any more. "I don't believe you!" she screamed, jumping up into the air and hovering there as a burst of frantic chi flared spectacularly around her. She covered her ears with her hands and shook her head violently. "Stop it! Stop saying it! I won't listen to you any more!" Howling in anguish, she shot out of the cave at a speed that was beyond anything she had ever used before, but that made little difference in the end. She hadn't made it two yards past the entrance before Vegita had shot ahead of her, and he clamped his arms around her waist and held her against him in a crushing, unbreakable grip. Bulma screamed in terror and began to struggle violently, ignoring the streams of tears that blurred her vision as she desperately fought against Vegita. She had to get away from him. She couldn't bear to hear him say anything else about his feelings for her; she was afraid that if he did, she'd never be able to convince herself that it was all a lie.

"No! Let me go!" she howled frantically, kicking and clawing at him with all the desperate ferocity of a cornered wild animal. His hold on her was unmoving, however, and no matter how savagely she struck at him, his determined gaze was unwavering. Bulma's panic quickly escalated to a fevered pitch. "Stop touching me! Please God, no!"

"You can't hide from the truth any longer," he growled at her, pinning her arms to her sides as he crushed her to his chest in a fierce embrace. "Even if I must use force to do it, I'm going to make you understand what you are to me! Stop fighting me, and listen to what I say to you! I will not give up, and I will not change my mind about you! I will make you mine, and no matter how much you fight against this, you will find no escape from my desire for you!"

Bulma's eyes widened and she froze as all at once she drew the chilling conclusion that Vegita hadn't brought her out here simply to talk to her. He was going to... to... Oh Kami, no! Why hadn't she paid more attention to Yamucha? Out here there would be no one to hear her screams of terror and cries for help, and even if she did succeed in escaping him, she couldn't possibly evade him forever. What was she going to do?

"That's better," he grunted, pleased that she had stopped struggling, at least. "You will soon see that fighting me will get you nowhere. I always get what I want, and I want you more than I care to say it. By one way or another, you _will_ be mine, woman!" Growling savagely, he seized her lips in his, and he kissed her deeply, forcefully, and earnestly. While his dominating tongue methodically explored hers, he closed his eyes and uttered a softer, more contented growl, causing their united mouths to vibrate slightly in unison. Bulma trembled and hung numbly in his arms, unable to lift so much as a hand to resist him, owing to her unyielding terror of what she knew he was going to do to her, and how hopeless she knew it was for her to fight against it. All of her fear of Vegita up until this point – it was all so clear to her now from whence it had come. Somehow, some way, she instinctively must have suspected that this had been his intention all along. If only she had listened to her instincts! How could she have been so very foolish?

He held her captive in his passionate, forceful kiss for what seemed like an eternity, and although he apparently seemed to be finding the experience luxurious and wonderful, she felt so terribly frightened and abused that she would have given anything to be able to faint again, if only to blot out the unbearable experience that had been initiated by her Saiyan captor. How could she have not seen this? Why had it snuck up on her so easily? She would never in a million years have expected Vegita to regard her with anything more intimate than the urge to taunt and eventually kill her, and now that she knew the truth, she was afraid that her entire perception of reality had been completely shattered. Her life lay before her in tatters, and she was unable to think of a way to reconstruct herself in any form that retained even the slightest glimmer of strength. He had robbed her of all self-confidence and trust.

He finally withdrew his lips and gazed hungrily into the trembling face of the object of his desire, and Bulma stared back at him through the filmy haze of her streaming tears. "P-please... no..." she whimpered pitifully at him, begging him with tortured eyes not to continue with what she knew well would come next.

Vegita realized at once that Bulma's expression had not become one of reciprocation, or even of reluctant acceptance. Rather, the tear-filled, frightened eyes that stared back at him now regarded him with the same degree of dread and fright that he had seen there when she had been attacked by Jees. Suddenly, he understood how she must have interpreted his words, and he cursed himself for not realizing sooner just how threatening they had sounded. Blast it all... did she really think that he was as despicable as that pathetic worm? Did she truly believe that he was about to do something so unthinkable to her? Her fear of him was fueling in her an almost impenetrable ignorance to his true intentions, and his frustration with it had become nigh unbearable.

"What kind of a monster do you think I am?" he asked her quietly, forcing his voice to remain calm, despite his irritation. "Do you really think I would get any pleasure out of taking you by force? I can't stomach you cringing and crying like this. Damn it all; why can't I make you see that I'm not going to hurt you?"

Bulma's eyes shot open upon hearing his words, and she stared at him with no small degree of distrust as she searched his expression desperately for any indication that he was being sincere with her. Had she misjudged him? Was he going to be content with simply kissing her and letting her go? Although she was terrified of what she might find, she had to search his expression for any clues it might give her. Timidly at first, she shot several furtive glances at his face, rapidly soaking in every iota of information she could glean from each pass.

All at once she found herself settling on his eyes – the one place she had feared the most – and she was astonished by what she saw there. The savage, roiling fury that had been there less than a minute ago was gone. All she could see was fatigue, frustration, and defeat, and it completely took her by surprise. She had never seen such a look on Vegita's face directed at her before. A surge of understanding washed over her, and she realized that it was true. He really was being honest with her!

Bulma let out a sound that was a combination between a sob and a sigh, and she closed her eyes as so much of the tension and dread that had built up inside her fled her psyche all at once. He could easily sense the debilitating anxiety leaving her body, and he could tell by the added heaviness of her weight in his arms that she had become so overwhelmed by her relief that she had lost the ability to stand on her own two feet. He began to relax a little himself. It was about damn time she let a little truth into that thick skull of hers.

Bulma felt like a balloon that had just been untied. She had been terribly, terribly wrong, and Vegita had no intention of raping her. She had simply mistaken typical Vegita aggression and abrasiveness for malice, and as long as she made it clear to him that she was unwilling, he wouldn't force her to do anything with him. She felt so tremendously drained. Had Vegita not been holding her so tightly, she knew she would have fallen to her knees in utter relief.

Although she had fought against it as desperately as she had been able, Bulma could now no longer fend off the knowledge of Vegita's true intentions. He had fallen for her, and no matter what she did now, she wasn't going to be able to hide from that. As she thought back on all of her encounters with him in the past, so many of the little things began to make much more sense. It was as he had said; he had saved her life several times on Namek, and although he'd had ample chances to kill her in their first fight here on Earth – and doing so would have saved him a great deal of inconvenience, it must be mentioned – he had instead chosen to toy with her and let her live. He was always watching her with such interest, and he had even kissed her once before this. She shut her eyes more tightly as she remembered the natural, contented way he had done it. That had not been merely an act to throw her off her guard. He had genuinely wanted to kiss her. The truth had been there for her to find all along, but she had been too wrapped up in fear to see it. Vegita had fallen in love with her.

A loud sob escaped from her quivering lips as a raw, unfamiliar emotion welled up inside her, and having nowhere else to hide, she buried her face in his chest as she cried. "How could this have happened?" she wailed, shaking her head weakly and balling her hands into fists. "I never wanted this, Vegita. It just isn't right!"

Vegita didn't answer, but he loosened his grip on her a bit and looked down at her as she covered her face with her hands. He allowed her to cry as she wished, all as he held her against his breast and experienced a strange sort of freedom that he'd never felt before. He had convinced her at last that he had chosen her to be his mate, and for some reason, knowing this gave him an incomparable sense of achievement. He knew that his battle wasn't over yet; she still hadn't realized what a boon she had been offered, but that too would come in time. He felt sure of it. His confidence in his abilities had been completely restored. He needn't have feared this; he had been such a fool to doubt himself. After all, he was the strongest warrior alive, and the irrational fear of one woman couldn't possibly be a worthy adversary for a man of his ability.

Bulma didn't know what she was supposed to say. She was so incredibly overwhelmed by it all. The sheer enormity of Vegita's confession pressed down on her like an unbearably heavy weight upon her shoulders, and she knew beyond all doubt that she didn't want this kind of burden.

"I don't know what to do," she moaned, feebly pushing against him and realizing with surprise that his hold on her had suddenly become gentle and relenting. She stumbled away from him, not yet able to look him in the eyes. "I... I just don't know how to handle this, Vegita."

"I figured as much," he grunted. "Your irrationality is a constant source of irritation to me, but it can't be ignored, either. I'm not going to force you to do anything, do you understand? I'll wait for you to come to me willingly, but bear in mind that I won't take no for an answer, and that eventually, you _will_ be mine. Remember my words well: I always get what I want."

Bulma wiped her reddened eyes against her arm, and she heaved a shaky sigh. "I've had enough of this," she said wearily. "I'm going home. You go right ahead and think whatever you want, Vegita, but just because you think you want me doesn't mean that I'll ever feel the same way about you. I'm not going to one day just decide that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You are an overbearing, pompous, bull-headed asshole, and you've scared me more than any one person has ever managed to scare me in my life. The day that I agree to 'be yours,' will be the day that the world will have come to an end."

Turning awkwardly, she teetered away from him on unsteady legs and tried to regain her capacity for flight, as she was finding it hard to focus her chi while in such an unstable state of mind. She didn't get far, however, before Vegita said something that caused her to forget all about flying away, at least for the moment.

"Bulma!" he said in a loud, commanding voice. The effect this single word had on her was both immediate and incredible. Bulma froze in her tracks, and then she slowly turned around to look at him, her red, puffy eyes wide with astonishment. In all the time that she had known Vegita, he had never called her or any of her friends by their real names. It had always been derogatory nicknames like "Kakarrot's brat," for Gohan, or "the Namek," for Piccolo, or "the fool," for Yamucha. For as far back as she could remember, he had never called her by her name, either. It had always been simply "woman," so one could easily imagine that it must have struck her as a little remarkable that he had used her name just now. She was actually surprised and curious enough to turn and wait to hear what he had to say.

"Perhaps you truly believe what you're saying," he began, scowling at her and setting his jaw, "but I don't care. You might be able to resist me for the time being, but sooner or later, you're going to realize that I am the most powerful man on this pitiful planet, and I will make the most impressive mate you could ever hope to find in a thousand lifetimes. Then you will find that your own desires coincide with mine, and when that happens, nothing will keep you from me. Do you understand? Nothing you say now will keep that from happening, and don't you dare think for one moment that you can dissuade me by handing me such feeble excuses."

That certainly didn't do much to ease Bulma's troubled mind about the matter, and she shot him a half-hearted glare through her weariness. My but he had a big ego, didn't he? She wanted nothing more than to go far away from him now, and to never encounter him again. Nothing less would be able to give her the peace of mind she so desperately craved. All the same, she knew that trying to avoid Vegita was an unrealistic goal. He did live at Capsule Corporation, after all, and what was she going to do – run away from home just because _he_ was there? No way! A spark of anger flickered inside her, and it quickly grew into resentment at his having decreed that she was going to fall in love with him someday. Yeah right! He was so full of himself; he probably thought that she'd just come leaping into his arms one day, having magically fallen head over heels for him. Well, he could just dream on! Maybe the jerk _was_ capable of emotion, but that didn't change the fact that he was still a jerk, and that he would never be more to her than just that – a jerk.

She was on the verge of telling him this when he spoke again. "It's become rather late," he commented, staring up at the night sky and frowning slightly. "If you'd like to leave and consider what I've told you, I won't stop you."

Bulma then did something that most people would never have expected her to do, even if it _had_ been Vegita she was facing. She chickened out. Rather than telling him off as she'd originally intended, she chose the more passive and less prolonged route of simply agreeing with him. She lowered her eyes and nodded dully. "Yes," she murmured. "I think I'll do that. They're probably worried about me back at home, anyway."

Vegita grunted in reply, and without another word, she turned and flew unsteadily into the air as she headed for home. She had a great number of unpleasant thoughts to accompany this flight, and she wasn't looking forward to reflecting upon them at all.

Vegita watched her go, his shoulders beginning to sag and a great, pent-up breath escaping from his lips. He had done it. He had finally convinced her of the truth, and now all that remained was to convince her that she truly did belong to him. Although opening himself up to her had been the hardest, most humiliating thing he'd ever had to do, he didn't exactly regret it. It would take a little time to be sure, but he had felt certain that she didn't seem as frightened of him anymore. That was something, at least. He'd never liked the way she kept darting away from him like a scared rabbit whenever she felt him coming. Maybe now her cowardly avoidance of him would stop.

Still, he was not a fool. He knew well that what was coming would be even more difficult – even if not necessarily as humiliating – but he also knew that he had both the strength and the drive to continue to battle this challenge. Although he'd never in a thousand years have put it in such explicit terms, he felt that she was well worth the effort it would take to conquer that stubborn resistance of hers.

- - - - -

No matter how much she mulled it over in her mind during the long flight, Bulma was still just as confused and frustrated by the time she had finally returned home as she had been when she had left Vegita. Sighing heavily and shaking her head, she pushed open the kitchen door and walked inside.

She walked in to find her parents yelling and arguing with Yamucha in the next room. She walked over to the doorway, listening curiously.

"I don't care if that maniac _can_ kill me!" Yamucha shouted angrily at them. "It's been four hours already! Don't you think she'd be back by now if he wasn't planning to do something to her? I'm going, and that's final!"

He made a move toward the kitchen, just as Bulma stepped into the living room. For a brief moment, everyone froze, forming an eerie, twisted tableau of shock and disbelief. It didn't stay that way for long, though.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs squealed excitedly. "You're back!"

Yamucha rushed forward and practically squeezed the breath out of her with a huge bear hug. "Thank Kami," he said in a choked voice. "I... I thought for sure that you were gone for good!"

Bulma smiled in gentle understanding and patted him reassuringly on the back. "It's all right," she said in a calm, soothing voice. "I'm okay, Yamucha."

"Where's Vegita?" Yamucha asked, pulling back away so that he could look her in the face. "He hasn't hurt you, has he?"

"No, he hasn't hurt me. As for where he is, he's probably still out there in the desert," she mused, nodding back toward the west, "but I wouldn't go out there looking for him if I were you, Yamucha."

"So you escaped from him?" he asked her.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "He let me go. It's all right, Yamucha. He... he scared me so much when I confronted him this afternoon that I... I fainted." Bulma lowered her eyes as she uttered the humiliating words. She was so ashamed that she couldn't bear to watch his reaction to what she had said. "He took me to a cave out in the desert and he stayed there with me until I came to."

"And then he just let you go? He didn't do anything to you?" Yamucha said in disbelief.

"Yes," Bulma said after a moment's hesitation. "Yes, that's right."

Yamucha let her go and sighed. "Thank Kami," he said again in a tired voice. "I was scared half to death when your parents told me that he had taken you away. I didn't know what to think."

"I'm sorry," Bulma said, folding her hands behind her back and looking down at her feet, "but everything's all right now, so you can stop worrying."

"I'm glad to hear it," Yamucha said, smiling a very relieved smile at her.

"Well, I guess it's time we all went to bed," Dr. Briefs sighed, glancing at Bulma with relieved but rather bloodshot eyes. He looked like he'd aged an entire year since Bulma had last seen him.

"Yeah," Yamucha agreed. He left to go out to his capsule house, but he hesitated before going into the kitchen. "You sure you're okay, Bulma?" he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, smiling warmly at him. "Go on to bed."

Smiling back, Yamucha nodded. He then left through the kitchen, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Dr. Briefs sighed, and then he gave Bulma a warm, tender hug too. "I can't tell you how afraid I was when he took you away from us, Bulma," he said as he let her go, taking his glasses off and rubbing his face in exhaustion. "Likewise, there are no words to describe how glad I am now that I know you've come back to us safe and sound."

"I'm so sorry to have worried you," Bulma said, giving him an affectionate kiss on the cheek, "but everything turned out all right, Daddy."

"I know, and I'm very glad of it," Dr. Briefs sighed. "Well, I'm off to bed now too," he yawned, beginning to ascend the staircase to the second floor where the bedrooms were. "Are you coming, dear?" he asked, pausing and glancing back at his wife through tired eyes.

"Not yet," she answered, smiling cheerfully at him. "Go on ahead. I'll be up in a little while."

He gave a nod, and with a final loving smile at Bulma, he ascended the stairs to go to bed. Mrs. Briefs went and sat down on the couch, smiling at Bulma. "Do you feel like telling me what happened, Bulma honey?" she said, patting the spot on the sofa next to her and giving Bulma a reassuring nod.

Bulma gaped at her mother in amazement. How was it that the woman always knew when she wasn't getting the entire truth? It was mind-boggling the way her mother could read her, but truthfully, Bulma didn't really care. She did feel like she had to tell someone.

"Oh Mom!" she sighed, plopping down on the sofa and burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry! I just couldn't say anything in front of everyone, especially Yamucha."

"I know, dear," Mrs. Briefs said softly. "That's why I stayed behind."

"Everything's been turned upside down," Bulma sobbed, beginning to lose control of her pent-up emotions. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to think anymore!"

"So he told you at last," Mrs. Briefs sighed, wrapping her arms protectively around Bulma and kissing her tenderly atop her shaking head. "I had a feeling he wasn't going to hold it in much longer. I'm sorry it had to come as such a shock to you, Bulma."

Bulma gasped. "You knew?" she cried, looking up in astonishment. "How did you...? Why...?" She was at a loss for words.

Mrs. Briefs nodded in understanding. "I knew it for certain the first time I saw him looking at you," she said soothingly, pulling a handkerchief from her nightgown pocket and dabbing at Bulma's eyes with it. "You have to understand, honey, that it's a lot easier for someone who's not directly involved to notice these things than it is for someone who is. I knew a long time ago how Vegita felt, even if you didn't, but I couldn't tell you that. I knew it wouldn't have been fair to Vegita if I had."

Bulma swallowed hard. "But you hinted at it," she sniffled. "I remember that."

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "I like Vegita very much, Bulma," she said kindly. "I would never have done anything to jeopardize his shot at your affections, and I didn't think there was any harm in teasing you about him, since I didn't think you'd suspect I was referring to him anyway. I just wanted to bother you a little bit."

"It didn't worry you that he felt that way about me?" Bulma asked dully, feeling a little betrayed.

"Not in the least," Mrs. Briefs replied firmly. "Oh, I was worried about how you would take it, of course, but as for Vegita, I thought too much of him to worry about anything else. Anyway, I was fairly certain that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt you. The way he brought you back to the house after you attacked him convinced me of that a long time ago. Although, I have to admit that I was a little concerned when he carried you off this evening. He had a desperate look in his eyes that I'd never seen before, and I didn't exactly know what it meant."

"I saw a lot of things from Vegita tonight that I'd never seen before," Bulma said dully. "I'm beginning to think that he's not at all like the man I thought he was."

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Mrs. Briefs coaxed her. "It'll make you feel better."

"All right," Bulma sighed. She told her mother everything, from the time she had awakened with him in the cave, to the kiss, and on through when she had left him to come home. Mrs. Briefs listened quietly and without expression, save for the calm look of understanding that was already there. When Bulma had finished, her mother waited in silence for her to ask the question that she already knew was coming.

"What should I do, Mom?" Bulma wailed. "I've always been so damn afraid of him! Now I just don't know what to think! Everything's so messed up! What am I gonna do?"

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "Let me ask you something, Bulma," she said after a short pause. "Just why were you so afraid of Vegita in the first place?"

Bulma hadn't been expecting this. "Why?" she repeated, looking up at her mother with a bewildered expression on her face. "Well," she said, looking back down and thinking for a moment. "I guess I don't really know. I just always have been, but it's been so much worse lately. The way he always stared at me didn't help much, and it seemed that every time I ran into him he would stare at me so fiercely that I couldn't help but want to fly away from him as fast as I could. Maybe it was just the fact that I didn't know why he kept doing that. It did confuse me a lot that he only seemed to do it to me, and I guess that probably made it worse. I don't know; maybe it was just the not knowing; maybe it was the mystery of it all that made him seem so intimidating."

"And now that you know?" Mrs. Briefs prodded gently.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out," Bulma said, her hands tightening into little balls in her lap. "I don't understand why, but he doesn't seem as frightening now. I've never really taken the time to think this through all the way, but Vegita's had so many opportunities to really hurt me. And I mean _really_ hurt me, Mom. The only times he's ever done anything to me at all is when we were enemies in battle, and even then he's never done as much as he ought to have, by all rights. Given all that, it doesn't make sense for me to be so afraid of him, right? I guess that since I didn't know _why _he was always around, or why he's always been watching me, it just made the most sense to be afraid of him.

"Even so," she sighed, "knowing that Vegita's got a thing for me doesn't exactly make all the fear go completely away, and it doesn't make me feel like dancing a jig, either. Yamucha was bad enough, but at least I'm close to him - he's my best friend. But Vegita..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to imagine what life with Vegita was going to be like now that she knew he was in love with her. She couldn't see it as being anything but awkward and uncomfortable, and she sighed irritably. "I just don't know how I'm going to deal with this, Mom. I need some time to think about it."

"I don't think I could give you any better advice than that," Mrs. Briefs said, nodding in agreement. "Take some time to consider what it all means, but keep in mind that you'll eventually have to decide whether you think giving Vegita a chance at your affections is worth it or not."

Bulma's head shot up. "You've got to be kidding!" she exclaimed. "Me and Vegita?! Are you out of your mind?"

Mrs. Briefs laughed good-naturedly. "Well, you said yourself that he's not the man you thought he was!" she chuckled with a smile. "It's possible that you might find out that the man he really is isn't really all that bad!"

"Yeah, but Vegita!" Bulma said in disbelief. "I mean... Mom, he's _Vegita_!"

Mrs. Briefs laughed again. "Yes, I think we've already established the man's identity," she chuckled. "I think we should probably move on to the next step now, don't you think so?"

Bulma groaned. "You know what I mean, Mom," she said in exasperation. "I mean, it would be ridiculous for me to even think of Vegita like that. It's just plain silly!"

"Why?" her mother persisted, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Aw, just forget it," Bulma snapped. "Geez, Mom, I can't understand why you like him so much."

Mrs. Briefs giggled. "I thought it was obvious," she said, smiling impishly. "I mean, look at the man, Bulma! Surely you've noticed what a gorgeous man he is! And all those muscles, too! It gives me goose bumps just thinking about him!"

"Ugh!" Bulma shrieked in disgust. "I can't believe I'm hearing this! Have you entirely lost your mind, Mom? Gorgeous my foot!"

"Now, you can't tell _me_ that you don't find him even the slightest bit attractive," her mother said slyly, wagging an accusing finger at Bulma. "Admit it!"

"I'll admit to nothing of the kind," Bulma snapped angrily. "Even if that were the case, which it _isn't_, I might add," she said with a scowl, "it wouldn't matter. Looks aren't everything, Mom. That man's a bully and a brute, and he doesn't have even a snowball's chance in Hell of making me think he's attractive in _any_ way."

"Really?" her mother exclaimed in astonishment. "Well, I suppose that means that you didn't see what I saw a couple days ago!"

"What are you talking about?"

Mrs. Briefs giggled excitedly. "Oh, just that I happened to catch a glimpse of a certain someone on his way to the gravity room without a shirt on, and I must say, he didn't look anything _but_ gorgeous to me!"

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to any more of this!" Bulma exploded. "Sometimes you are absolutely obnoxious, Mom!"

"Just doing my job!" her mother replied smartly. "Now, I think it's time we headed on up to bed."

"Wait a minute," Bulma said, her spirits sinking. "I just thought of something. What am I going to tell Yamucha about all of this? He hates Vegita's guts, and I can only imagine what he's going to think if he finds out Vegita is in love with me. I mean, he still hopes he has a chance with me, for heaven's sake! Besides, I can't just leave him in the dark forever. He's bound to notice something fishy's going on, and I can say for sure that he's not going to take it well when he does."

"My advice on that one is not to tell him about it right away," Mrs. Briefs said, after a short pause. "I think you're overestimating him a little bit. I really don't think he'll notice it all that easily. Anyway, you don't even know how you feel about all of this yet, and I wouldn't tell Yamucha anything until you know that for sure."

"I guess that makes sense," Bulma said, thinking it over in her mind. "I hope you're right, though. Yamucha's pretty observant about these things, and he has a nasty habit of spying on Vegita. If he suspects anything, it'll only cause trouble."

"What's he going to do about it?" Mrs. Briefs said with a smile. "Attack him? It seems unlikely to me that he'd do something so rash on a suspicion. He might stick pretty close to you for a while, though. Who knows? Regardless, you have a responsibility to try to protect his feelings from your uncertainty, Bulma. Besides, it'll make it easier on you to sort things out if he isn't hovering around you trying to win you over or something. He might find out ahead of time, but better to let that happen than to tell him prematurely and make it that much harder on yourself. Just take some time to sort this out on your own. Oh, and in the meantime," she added, wagging a reproachful finger at her, "stop running from Vegita all the time. I've seen the way you creep about when you think he's coming. That's not going to accomplish anything and you know it. The best thing you can do now is to find out all you can about him. Try to decide if he really is all that bad. Who knows? You might be pleasantly surprised!"

"Yeah, right," Bulma grumbled with a snort of disdain.

"I'm serious!" Mrs. Briefs said with a hurt expression. "You ought to at least give him a chance, Bulma! I mean, what's the worst that could happen, for Heaven's sake?"

"Yeah, but Mom, I don't see why I should even consider it! I mean, there's no way I'd ever even feel for him what I feel for Yamucha, so why should I give him a chance at what even Yamucha couldn't have, huh? Tell me that!"

"Well, I say you're being ridiculous and unfair," Mrs. Briefs said emphatically. "Anyway, if you continue to avoid him like this, the only impression he's going to get from you is that you're still afraid of him. Now, is that really what you want?"

That struck a nerve. The last thing she wanted him thinking was that he still had her so intimidated. The very idea of it left such a bad taste in her mouth that she couldn't help agreeing with her mother. "I doubt it'll be anything pleasant to be around him," she muttered, "but I guess I'll at least stand my ground when I sense him coming. I'm not going to be nice to him, though! I don't want him thinking anything's changed! Otherwise, knowing him, the jerk'll probably twist it around to make it look like I've fallen for _him_ or something."

Mrs. Briefs really laughed then. "Oh honestly, Bulma!" she cried. "You can be so ridiculous sometimes!"

Bulma glared at her. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," she said loftily, getting to her feet, crossing her arms, and raising her nose in the air.

Mrs. Briefs giggled. "Cut it out," she said. "Now, go on up to bed. You're a wreck."

Bulma felt like a wreck. "Yeah, it'd be nice to get some sleep," she said, her expression changing dramatically as she glanced longingly at the stairs. "I don't know, Mom. I actually feel a little better about all of this now, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have some considerable trouble falling asleep tonight. I just have too much on my mind."

"Oh, I think you'll be all right," Mrs. Briefs said, following her daughter up the staircase. "Just remember that your father will need your help tomorrow when he begins the actual construction of Vegita's gravity room."

"Oh yeah," Bulma said, yawning sleepily. She'd forgotten about that. "I'll help him after my morning workout," she decided, after thinking for a moment. "That'll limber me up a bit."

They separated then and went to their own rooms to leave the troubles of the day behind. Despite the apprehensions she'd had about getting to sleep, Bulma was out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow. Perhaps the events of the day had worn her out more than she'd imagined.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: Gravity Banter and Vegita's Magnanimous Offer**

Bulma didn't manage to drag herself out of bed until well into the late morning the next day. Normally she didn't have much of a problem waking up in the morning, but a lot had happened to her yesterday, and the resulting strain had taken its toll on her physique as well as on her nerves. As a result, she had slept in much later than usual to compensate. At any rate, she finally did manage to get up, clean up, and get dressed, and after doing about ten minutes of stretches, she felt considerably better. She went downstairs, and upon finding no one about, she fixed herself a nice, big breakfast and sat down at the kitchen table to eat it in peace.

Of course, the only "peace" fit to mention was that of the quiet and solitude of the room around her. Her mind, however, was anything but at peace. The events of yesterday were still strikingly crisp and sharp to her, and so was the conversation she'd had with her mother before going to bed. The whole mess had been bothering her all morning, and she was unable to think of anything else. As if the confusion couldn't get any worse, what her mother had said was really making her wonder just how she actually felt about Vegita. Perhaps she had lost some of her fear of him, but she couldn't see herself ever being comfortable around him, no matter how far in the future she tried to look. He was just too... well, _Vegita_ for her to not feel creeped out by him.

All the same, it was hard for her to admit to herself that she would never be able to keep her composure if she had to be around him for any length of time. She would have liked to believe that she was stronger than that. She hated discovering any kind of weakness in herself, no matter how understandable it seemed to be. It just didn't seem right to assume that she couldn't break herself of this general uneasiness she felt around him, now that she knew what his motives really were. Sure, it was disturbing to know that his feelings for her were the way they were, but perhaps she could find some way to work beyond that. She didn't really want to go out of her way to be around him, but if she was going to spend three whole years here confined to the compound with him, she was going to find an agreeable means of coexisting with him by one way or another.

She had her training to consider, after all. She had to devote her full attention to her training if she was going to improve as much as she intended, and she knew that if she let Vegita distract her, she wouldn't be able to make the kind of progress she really wanted. Besides, it wasn't as though it would hurt anything to force herself to endure his presence in her life. At the very worst she would make a fool of herself in front of Vegita a few times. That wouldn't be any great change of events, would it? Scowling, she shoved another pancake into her mouth and chewed furiously. She'd show him, though. Eventually she'd get it through that thick skull of his that she could handle any kind of mind game he cared to try with her, and then some!

As she sat there brooding over this, the kitchen door opened and Yamucha walked in. He spotted Bulma at the table and raised an eyebrow at the enormous quantity of food she was packing away. After a dismissive shrug, he smiled and went to sit down in the chair across the table from her.

"Hey Bulma," he said, sitting down and smiling brightly at her. "How're you feeling? It looks like your appetite hasn't been hurt much at least."

"I feel restless," she said, scowling only a little this time. "I feel like going out and knocking the stuffing out of something. I guess I'll go spend a few hours in my gravity room before I go out to help my dad work on Vegita's."

"Er... I wouldn't do that if I were you," Yamucha said, putting a hand behind his head and laughing nervously. "It's already occupied – your gravity room, I mean."

"Huh?" Bulma said, swallowing a large bite of eggs and looking up. "What do you mean? Who's in there?"

"Well... Vegita is," Yamucha replied, staring at her quizzically. "Didn't you say he could use your room until his was fixed? Well, he's in there all right – been there since six this morning. I guess you'll have to wait until he's through with it, or until you fix his room. I guess it depends on how much you really want to train until his is fixed."

Bulma frowned. She hadn't expected Vegita to come back so early, and she admittedly hadn't expected him to get situated in her gravity room right away, even though she probably _should_ have expected it. She sighed and pushed herself back away from the table. Much as she dreaded it, she recognized this as being her chance to begin the slow, uncomfortable process of learning to live with Vegita. It had to start somewhere. It might as well be here and now.

"I wonder if Vegita would mind letting me train with him for an hour or so," Bulma mused aloud. "He'd have to tune it down quite a bit, of course, but it wouldn't really take all that long. It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? The worst he could do is say is no."

"That's not funny, Bulma," Yamucha said with a frown of disapproval.

"I wasn't trying to be," she replied, looking up and frowning back at him.

"How very strange," he said, his expression darkening. "A person generally is when making a joke."

"I wasn't making a joke!" Bulma said angrily. "I still want to train today, all right? Since I doubt Vegita's going to give up the gravity room long enough to let me do that, I'm going to see if he'll instead just share it with me at a lower level for a little while. I don't think that's too much to ask; do you?"

"Bulma, I want you to consider what you're saying," Yamucha said, his voice very calm but firm. "Even if Vegita didn't do anything to hurt you yesterday, that doesn't change the fact that he's a killer, and at the very least is extremely dangerous. Allowing yourself to be locked up in an enclosed space with him is about as sane as allowing a small child to be caged in with a half-starved tiger. Don't take the man so lightly, Bulma. He's not to be trusted, and you should just avoid him as much as you can."

"I think you're wrong," Bulma said hotly. "Avoiding him isn't going to do me a damn bit of good. You wanna know why I was having such a hard time of it before I took my vacation, Yamucha? Well, I'll tell you. It's because of him. Trying to avoid him and living in constant fear of him all the time was tearing me apart. Hell, I'm so damned afraid of the jerk that I actually _fainted_ yesterday! Well, I'm tired of it! I'm going to prove to myself once and for all that I can break myself of this stupid fear of mine, and avoiding him definitely isn't going to help me do that."

"Did it ever occur to you that there might be a natural reason for you to be so afraid of him, Bulma?" Yamucha said gently, doing his best to refrain from fighting with her about it. He knew well enough from past experience that arguing with her was the least effective way of getting her to listen to him. "I don't think you were just being silly. I think there are plenty of very real reasons to fear and avoid Vegita, especially for you. Think of what you're suggesting! Do you honestly see nothing wrong with allowing yourself to be locked in there alone with him? The man's no saint, Bulma. All he'd have to do is turn the gravity up too high for you to move, and then he could do God knows what to you. I know you don't want me telling you this, but I can't just sit by and watch you offer yourself up to that bastard on a silver platter like that. You know how I feel about Vegita. I don't trust him, and I don't see any reason for you to either."

"I don't suppose he's given you much reason to trust him, has he?" Bulma sighed, sending him a smile of understanding. "I know you honestly believe what you're saying, Yamucha, but you don't know everything about him, either. He's not the monster you think he is, however rude and violent he may be. He's had ample opportunities to take advantage of me, and every time he's behaved himself. A man like him wouldn't hesitate if he really wanted to do something, so I really don't think his motives are in line with what you're afraid of. Even though you're my best friend in the whole world, I refuse to go against my own instincts on this one. Vegita still frightens the hell out of me, but for reasons I can't explain, I honestly don't think he wants to do anything to hurt me. You'll just have to trust me on this. I'm sorry, but I have to do this – not for the sake of my morning workout, but for the sake of my peace of mind. If I don't find a way to overcome this fear I have of him, I'll never really have my confidence back, and without it, I won't have a chance when the time comes to fight three years from now."

He stared at her in astonished silence as she quietly got up from the table, and after excusing herself, she walked calmly and resolutely out the door. He had never really realized just how badly Vegita had affected her, and from what she had just told him, it sounded as though she felt it was an unwarranted fear. She was so determined about this; she must have really put a lot of thought into it. Maybe he was being paranoid after all. She did have a point, of course. Vegita'd had plenty of chances to get at Bulma, and although he had attacked her a couple of times, he'd never really done anything to her. He'd kissed her, and that had been a really bad thing, but she didn't seem all that upset about it anymore, if she was so willing to drop herself into a little room with him like that. One thing was for sure, though. Nothing he told her now would make any difference. She was dead serious about this. He'd just have to hope for the best and keep an eye on things. If Vegita tried anything, he'd just have to do whatever he could to throw a monkey wrench into that jerk's plans.

Bulma's stomach felt like it had an entire garden full of butterflies in it as she walked silently through the compound toward her gravity building. She had understood why Yamucha would be against her doing this; she couldn't have been honest with herself if she'd said that she wasn't having her own share of misgivings. Just the same, Yamucha hadn't been there to hear what Vegita had told her last night. The man was dangerous all right, but her heart told her that he'd meant it when he'd said that he would never do anything to hurt her. "Besides," she told herself with a nervous smile, "he probably won't even let me train with him anyway. I'd be too much of an inconvenience to him. Vegita wouldn't let anything get in his way when it comes to his training; I'm sure of that."

Despite all that she'd said to reassure herself, her heart was still thumping a little more loudly and quickly than usual when she turned on the vidcam and began to speak. "Um, Vegita?" she said nervously, struggling to not sound as nervous and awkward as she felt. "Would it be all right if you let me train in there for an hour or two?"

Vegita let out a grunt in between push-ups and shot her a mild glance of annoyance. "I'm not leaving," he said flatly.

"That's fine," Bulma said, swallowing and mustering her courage. "How about if I train in there with you instead? I didn't mean that I wanted to kick you out of here or anything, but I do want to have a bit of a workout today, and I certainly don't mind sharing the room with you if I can do that." That last bit had been pretty much a lie, but she tried to sound convincing anyway. She didn't want to be rude, and besides, she thought he might be more agreeable if she tried her best not to sound like she resented his presence in there.

"Feh," he said, switching over to one-handed push-ups. "You wouldn't even be able to breathe in gravity like this. Don't waste my time, woman; I'm busy in here. This environment doesn't challenge me at all, so I can't afford any distractions. I have to spend even more time in here than usual to make up for this weak gravity."

Bulma noticed that he'd set the machine all the way up to its max – two hundred g's. She frowned and tried to regroup her thoughts. "I know that I couldn't possibly handle the level you're training in right now, Vegita," she told him with a sigh. "That's not what I meant. I was hoping you'd turn it down a little while I was in there. It wouldn't take more than a couple of hours, after all. I still have to work on rebuilding your own gravity room today anyway, so I can't spend a lot of time training."

Vegita smirked as he switched hands. "Then why aren't you doing that?" he shot at her. "Your coming in here and hindering my progress isn't going to benefit me at all. If you just get to work on my gravity building and leave me in peace, you'll be making better use of your time, and – even more importantly – of mine!"

Bulma's temper flared a little. "Just because I said you could use my gravity room doesn't mean I'm giving up my morning workouts for you, you ingrate!" she snapped. "Geez! Would it really kill you to take it easy and train in sixty for a couple of hours? I'm not going to tie it up for the whole day, for Heaven's sake! Why do you have to be so self-centered? You'd think I was asking you to chop off a leg or something!"

Vegita gave an irritated sigh and got to his feet. He crossed his arms and frowned sternly at Bulma. "I'm not going to train in any measly sixty g's," he said firmly. "I don't even feel anything that low anymore."

Bulma glared at him. "Oh really?" she said angrily. "Well, all right then, tough guy. We'll turn up the gravity a little more if that's what you want, but I'm _getting_ my morning workout. You're just going to have to quit being such a selfish jerk and put up with it, because I'm not taking no for an answer here. Do you understand?"

Vegita smirked. "Fine," he said coolly. "Have it your way. We'll set the machine for eighty, and I'll be gracious and give you an hour."

"_Eighty_?!" Bulma exploded at him. "I have trouble with sixty as it is! I won't even be able to move in eighty g's!"

"That's not my problem," Vegita replied, turning away slightly and shooting her a self-satisfied, challenging grin. "It's not my fault that you're such a weakling. Don't expect me to coddle you and nurture even one of your many weaknesses for you, because I won't!"

Bulma's eyes flared in her anger, but she didn't answer him immediately. She knew what he was up to; she wasn't stupid. He thought that if he chose a high enough number, she'd eventually give up on her idea of training in there with him, and he'd be left alone again. The big jerk. She knew it'd be no use trying to haggle the level down with him; Vegita wasn't a haggling sort of person. Nevertheless, she wasn't about to just give him the satisfaction of letting him think that he could shove her off that easily. Maybe eighty would be a little over her head, but she was bound and determined to do whatever she could to show him – and herself – that she could take whatever nonsense he threw her way without having to back down or run away. If she gave in to him now, she'd be making it that much harder for herself whenever the next thing came up.

"Fine," she said angrily. "Eighty it is, then."

Vegita shot her a smirk of triumph, and Bulma turned off the vidcam. Muttering some rather foul names for Vegita as she tromped around the building to the door, she clenched her fists and her teeth and tried to imagine just how rough eighty g's would really be. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to be able to do much of anything, but even struggling to move at all would be better than nothing. It would grant her the physical release she wanted, and it would at least show the jerk that she wasn't going to back down when he tried to bully her. That was something, at least.

She didn't look at him when he opened the door to let her in, and she didn't say anything either. She simply stalked in, crossed her arms, and waited impatiently as he locked the door behind her and sauntered over to the gravity machine to turn it on.

Bulma didn't even think to take the opportunity to prepare herself. The full eighty g's hit her like a ton of bricks in the face, and she promptly doubled over, very nearly losing her balance and falling face-first onto the gravity room floor. Vegita leaned up against the control terminal, and an amused smirk began to tug at one corner of his mouth as Bulma groaned and grunted her way upright, every one of her muscles having already begun to quiver in protest.

He walked up in front of her and grinned in her face. "This isn't too much for you, is it?" he asked with a taunting sneer. Bulma forced a grin.

"You just wait until I regain the ability to move, Buster!" she retorted, grunting a little from the effort of lifting one of her feet a few millimeters off the floor and inching it forward. "Then I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget!"

Vegita laughed. "Don't be ridiculous!" he said, chuckling as she took a hard-won step forward. "The only thing you could ever teach _me_ is how to be a proper pain in the ass! That's about the only thing you do well!"

"Well, I did learn from the master," Bulma replied in a sweet voice, giving him a jerky bow.

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "Besides, I would have thought that you'd have realized by now how fruitless it is for you to try to challenge me. Oh, but pardon me! I forgot! All you need to do is stop time and find a knife, isn't that right?"

Bulma scowled as Vegita pretended to cower away from her in fear. "I guess it's your lucky day," she grunted, heaving another leg forward. "I've already tested the effects of gravity on my teleportation. For some reason, the gravity stays intact, although for the life of me, I don't know why. I suppose I should have known that without having to test it, since I was never weightless when I teleported before. As for getting a knife," she growled at him, "I wouldn't mock me about that if I were you. Did it ever occur to you that if I'd thought of that earlier, we'd have killed Freeza without any difficulty at all? I have a lot of power and potential, and I'm only just now beginning to understand it. You'd better just watch your step, because I'm not about to take any more garbage from you. This is a new day, Vegita. From now on, you're going to have to _earn_ my respect if you want me to listen to you. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

Vegita snorted in disdain. "I find it hard to take anything you say seriously when you can't even do something as simple as _walk_ in gravity as pitiful as this. The fact that it had never occurred to you on Namek to make the best use of your abilities only shows what a fool you are; it doesn't show that you have the potential to be great. You're deluding yourself, woman, and if there's one thing that's worse than being a weakling, it's being a weakling who believes she's not one."

"Scoff all you want," Bulma panted, having finally come within arm's length of him. She grabbed at him, but he simply stepped effortlessly out of her reach. "I'm not the only one who dropped the ball on Namek, Vegita. It never occurred to you that I could take care of Freeza so easily, either. You may be stronger than I am, but you sure aren't much of a tactician, either. Although... it occurs to me that even if you _had_ thought of it, you wouldn't have said anything, would you? With your ego, you would have rather seen us all get decimated than let anyone other than you defeat Freeza. You didn't even ask anyone for help until Freeza had nearly killed you."

Vegita ignored her comment. "It's such a pity that you can't simply stop time and attack me, isn't it?" he jeered at her. "I suppose you couldn't even do anything to stop me if I did this." He grinned malevolently as he stepped casually alongside her and gave a large chunk of the hair on the back of her head a sharp tug.

"Woah! Hey!" Bulma exclaimed as she lost her balance and fell onto her back. "You asshole!" she screeched, flailing around madly in an effort to right herself. "What on Earth was that for, you big jerk?!"

"Fun, mostly," Vegita laughed. "What's the matter? Having a bit of trouble getting up?"

"Go ahead; yuck it up," Bulma grumbled, somehow managing to roll herself over onto her stomach. "Arrogant jerk." With a great deal of effort, she managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees, and she stayed in that position for a few seconds – panting from her exertion – before shoving herself upright.

"Well, don't you have training to do or something?" Bulma wheezed impatiently, glowering at him as she finally struggled up onto her feet.

Vegita smirked. "I'm having more fun watching you make an ass of yourself," he said with an amused chuckle. "I don't suppose it would hurt me to take a break long enough to watch you prove me right again."

Bulma snarled and shot him an obscene hand gesture. "Bite me!" she snapped.

"Tempting," Vegita replied, smirking evilly as he quite perceptibly looked her over, apparently imagining just which part of her he'd bite first.

"Shut the hell up!" Bulma exploded at him, feeling her cheeks burn furiously as she realized that she'd walked right into that one. "Quit looking at me like that, dammit! You want a broken nose?!"

Vegita sneered shamelessly at her. "Yeah, that sounds good," he said. "Why don't you give me one?"

"Ooooh!" Bulma shrieked angrily. "You're driving me nuts! Just hold still, you stupid jerk!" She lunged crazily – and naturally quite unsuccessfully – at him in an effort to grab onto him long enough to drag him to the floor. She figured that if she could do that, then she might be able to give him a few good whacks without having to move around too much. She got right back up and tried again, and when her second attempt failed, she again dove at him, howling in pain and frustration. However, Vegita was dodging her without any trouble at all, making each of her attempts seem more pitiful than the last. Compared to Vegita in this gravity, Bulma really did look pathetic. Of course, she stubbornly disregarded this, and she remained undaunted by the incredible ease of movement Vegita had at his disposal. All she cared about at the moment was beating the holy crap out of him, and as far as she was concerned, no stupid gravity was going to prevent her from doing that!

"Now really, woman!" Vegita laughed heartily, ducking back and forth as she grabbed for him. "I gave you a kiss only yesterday, and already you can't keep your hands off of me! No man's safe around you!"

"_Yaaargh_!" Bulma screamed, her face growing redder by the second. "I'll kill you for that! Hold still and take your beating like a man, Vegita!"

Vegita just kept dodging her, and the big silly grin on his face was enough proof to say that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Bulma was pushing herself to her limits in an effort to knock him over, but she hadn't even grazed him with her fingertips. It only took a few more minutes of this frenzied activity for Bulma to finally collapse on the floor out of utter exhaustion. Her breath left her in great, crying gasps as she flopped over onto her back and shut her eyes tightly to stop the ceiling from spinning above her. Vegita walked up next to her and towered over her in triumph.

"Had enough?" he said smugly, crossing his arms.

"You... wish... you... bastard!" Bulma panted. "I'm... I'm just getting... my second wind. You just stay the hell away from me! When I get back up... your ass is mine!"

Vegita gave a derisive snort and promptly took a seat on the floor little more than a couple feet away – just far enough to be out of her reach. Bulma wanted to ignore him, but she wanted to glare at him even more. She sent him such a nasty look that all at once he roared with laughter.

"What's so damn funny?!" she demanded, clenching her fists and baring her teeth at him as her rage threatened to explode inside her.

"You... trying to look intimidating," Vegita gasped, rocking back and forth, "while you're plastered to the floor like that! You look positively ludicrous!"

"Shut up!" Bulma snapped. Vegita only laughed more loudly. "Dammit, quit laughing!" she screeched at him. It was no use, though. Vegita apparently was unable to contain his mirth, angering Bulma to the point where she screamed in fury. She wanted to lunge forward and strangle him. Unfortunately, she was too winded to make any kind of physical attack at the moment. She resorted to the only kind she had left: verbal. She called Vegita every foul name he could think of, and she insulted everything about him that she could imagine, from his ugly face and his short stature to his stubbornness and arrogance. About halfway through this barrage of profanity and verbal carnage, Vegita managed to stifle his remaining guffaws and chuckles so that he could listen to her, and listen he did, with a wide grin on his face and an impish gleam in his eyes.

Eventually Bulma just ran out of steam – not to mention inventive new expletives – and she lay there, panting and glaring fiercely at him, all the while trying to come up with some way of getting back at him for humiliating her. She wasn't all that scared of Vegita now, but boy was she mad! She glared furiously at him, trying to get it across to him that she did _not_ want him near her. Silent glaring didn't seem to have the desired effect though, because he didn't move an inch. He just stared at her, that grin of his so annoying that she wanted to scratch his lips right off of his face.

"Are you gonna get away from me or what?" she snapped, finally breaking the silence with her frustrated, angry voice. "I'm sick of looking at you, you infuriating moron!"

"I'll do whatever I please," Vegita said with a smug grin, "and unless you manage to peel yourself off of that floor and move me yourself, I'm not going anywhere."

Bulma scowled. Now he was just being childish. He was only doing this to bother her, and she had to admit that he was doing a very professional job of it, too. Well, that was fine with her. If he wanted to stay, he could stay, but she was getting as far away from that cretin as she could! Gritting her teeth and ignoring the aching pain, she lurched forward and executed the most excruciating sit-up of her life.

"Graaah!" she screamed, leaping clumsily – and with a great deal of pain – from this position to one where she was standing unsteadily and precariously on her feet. Letting the tears trickle out through tightly shut eyes, she slowly jerked herself upright. Her whole body was screaming protests at her, and it was all she could do to keep from crying out loud from the pain. She was only a couple yards away from the gravity machine. If she could make it over there, she'd only have to press the button...

Vegita watched on with a fair degree of curiosity and interest as Bulma began her slow, agonizing trek forward. He thought at first that she'd try to attack him again, but when she started walking – if you could call that slow, sliding shuffle of hers walking – toward the control terminal, he realized what she was up to. He wondered if she would make it. He got his answer when, just as she came within arm's length of it, Bulma must have exhausted whatever she'd had left in reserve, because she made a desperate lunge at the control terminal, missing the button with her fingers but succeeding in slamming her forehead into the top of the panel before falling to the floor with a loud thump, where she lay still and silent, as the stunning blow inhibited her movements for a few moments.

"_Augh_!" she screamed loudly once she recovered sufficiently to realize the kind of pain she was in. She pressed her hand against her forehead and rolled over onto her back before quickly rolling onto her side again and curling up into a little ball. Her ears began ringing, and as she gingerly pressed her fingers against the spot where she'd hit her head, the searing, dizzying pain informed her that she was going to have a nice, nasty bump there in an hour or so. More tears came, and this time it wasn't just the pain that was causing them. It was more the overwhelming and unbearable sense of defeat she felt than it was the pain, and for once she didn't care what Vegita would have to say to make fun of her this time. The hell with him. Even taunts and insults from that unbearable man couldn't make her feel any more disgusted with herself right now anyway.

Vegita didn't make fun of her. Instead, he simply shook his head and walked over to where she lay, dropping to his knees beside her. He pulled her over onto her back and tugged at her hand to get it away from her face, but she instinctively clutched at her throbbing forehead with one hand and slapped his hand away with the other.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked. "It's nothing! I don't want you here, so just get away from me, dammit!"

Vegita let out a frustrated groan. "You really are a pain in the ass," he grumbled, grabbing her hand again and yanking it away from her face. He pinned it to the floor and brushed her bangs back away from her forehead with his other hand. Bulma winced as he brushed a finger against the newly swollen lump that was beginning to form up there. What did he care, anyway? It was his fault it had happened, after all. For once, she kept her angry thoughts to herself and only scowled at him, though. What good would it have done her to say anything to him now? He had proven his point, and she was done. He might as well just get away from her and let her leave, because he wasn't going to get any more fun out of her today. She was so tired and frustrated that she had absolutely no inclination to stay in this gravity room any longer.

"You'll live," he said finally, letting go of her hand and leaning back away slightly, "but I wonder just how you've managed to keep yourself from getting killed again for so long. You're too damned impulsive."

Bulma snarled at him. "I don't need any lectures from you, Vegita!" she spat at him. "Just get away from me and let me get the hell out of here! I've had just about as much of you as I'm going to take, and if you don't stop gloating over me like that, I'm going to really make you sorry!"

Vegita only smirked at her. "Idle threats," he said simply. "I take back what I said before. You're also good at making those."

Bulma scowled angrily at him but remained silent. She hated him, and it disgusted her that she always seemed to end up at his mercy whenever she was around him. Sooner or later it was going to sink into her stubborn brain that nothing good _ever_ came from intentionally being near Vegita. Whether she was still afraid of him or not, the man was insufferable, plain and simple.

She continued to glare at him for a good couple of minutes more, but as the silence wore on and he made no move to get away from her, she began to feel more and more uncomfortable. It was very disconcerting to have him looming over her and staring down at her like that, and although she never would have admitted it to him in a million years after what she'd just endured, the intense, probing stare he had fixed on her was really beginning to freak her out. She glared at him more fiercely, trying to send him the signal that it was high time he got away from her.

Unfortunately, Vegita seemed to be having trouble reading looks today. Instead of leaving, he stayed right where he was, with the look on his face beginning to morph slowly into one that Bulma found all-too-familiar. She'd seen the same look on him yesterday, and even though she finally understood what it meant, that was one look that she never wanted to see from him again. A slight shiver went through her body, and she swallowed hard a couple of times. She wanted to tell him to stop – to beg him to just go away – but her stubborn pride wouldn't allow her to admit openly that he still had so much of an effect on her. All she was able to do was stare up at him, her eyes giving away the anxiety and discomfort she had begun to feel.

Vegita didn't seem to have any intention of leaving her alone, though. He slowly leaned over her and placed the palms of his hands on the floor on either side of her head. Bulma began to feel a bit panicky as she looked helplessly up at him, his body now silhouetted against the lights on the ceiling above them. Why was he doing this? Surely he wasn't going to try to do anything to her now, when he knew she couldn't do anything to stop him! As she stared fearfully at the look of hunger and desire she found in his eyes, she knew at once that he really was serious about this. What was she going to do? She knew that she didn't want this, and even though she was quickly reaching a high enough point in her desperation to beg him to stop, the focused, overpowering stare of his made her afraid that he wouldn't even listen to her. It seemed almost as though he was in some kind of trance up there. How was she going to keep this from happening?

To make matters worse, she was beginning to feel a little dizzy and light-headed. She hoped she wouldn't faint again. She didn't think she'd be able to live with herself if she let _that_ happen again. Yamucha's words from before echoed in her mind, and she began to doubt her convictions. How could she have been so wrong about this?

Vegita leaned down farther as his eyes fell closed and his lips parted loosely. Bulma couldn't take anymore. Even her pride wasn't as important to her as escaping this frightening situation. "Please stop," she begged him, her voice barely a shaky murmur, saturated with embarrassment and shame. She hated herself for this. She should never have had to beg him for anything; she should have been able to avoid this situation altogether, but she hadn't taken the risks seriously enough when she first asked him to let her train with him. She knew that she would not repeat her mistake again.

Vegita opened his eyes, and he seemed to have been shaken from a haze as he stared down at her in surprise. Her stare met his, and the look in her eyes was both accusing and frightened. He gave a shudder, and he was so close to her at this point that Bulma could distinctly feel the reverberations as Vegita's body transferred them to her chest. He let out an angry sigh before shaking his head in disgust – whether at himself or her, she wasn't sure.

He looked as though he was about to say something, but he never got the chance. All at once they were interrupted by furious yells and beating noises outside the gravity room door. It was Yamucha, and it was easy to tell from his voice alone that he was enraged to the point of recklessness, even without his violent strikes on the door.

"Get the hell away from her, you Saiyan bastard!" he screamed, pounding savagely on the door and glaring fiercely at them through the window. He was striking the door with super-human force, but even he knew how useless it was for him to do that. The doors on the gravity rooms had been created to sustain almost any magnitude of force, because it would have been disastrous for them to open while the machine was still on. That didn't stop Yamucha from trying to pound his way through, however, all the while hollering loud insults, threats, and curses at Vegita.

Vegita had raised his head, and a twisted look of hatred had formed on his face. He began to snarl at Yamucha, and Bulma could almost feel the low rumbling as it emanated from deep inside his throat. Vegita was clearly on the verge of utterly losing his temper. Bulma knew what was going to happen if she didn't intervene quickly, but what could she do? When Vegita saw red, it was all but impossible to snap him out of it, and she was so weak and tired right now that she knew she'd never be able to simply stop time and take him away from here like last time.

She glanced helplessly at Yamucha's angry face through the window on the door, and like a bolt out of the blue, a strange, terrible, reckless idea occurred to her. Without stopping to think, she acted on it. After letting out an anguished sob, she threw her arms around Vegita's neck, yanked him down, and kissed him full force on the lips.

Vegita let out a muffled grunt of surprise at first, but he didn't hesitate for long before languidly closing his eyes and reciprocating her offering without complaint. He slid his arms beneath her neck and back so as to hold her more closely against him, and whatever might have remained of his anger must have been ebbing away quickly. It was unreal just how effective her tactic had been. He seemed to have completely forgotten everything else but their kiss.

The pounding and angry shouts from outside stopped as quickly as they had begun, and Bulma knew what that meant. She felt kind of sick about what she'd just done to Yamucha, but she couldn't have just allowed Vegita to slaughter him. He would understand. She'd explain it to him as soon as she could get herself out of here.

Vegita was another story, though. In fixing one problem, she had created another. Not only had she hurled herself into the very situation she had been dreading only moments ago, but she'd also made it one step worse. She'd given Vegita the idea that her feelings for him had changed, and she did _not_ want him to believe that. Her mind was racing in an effort to come up with some kind of feasible exit strategy, but she could think of nothing.

To make matters even worse still, it was getting harder and harder to think clearly. As the kiss stretched on and on, her mind began to swim and her thoughts began to blur. Bulma didn't know if it was the gravity or the kiss, but she was beginning to feel very strange, and she thought it felt like a kind of wooziness or dizziness, but she wasn't sure. Her strength was rapidly leaving her too. Something – probably instinct – told her that if she was going to do something to stop this, she'd have to do it now.

She slid her arms down off of his neck, and each fell heavily and limply to either side of her head. Albeit rather reluctantly, Vegita finally released her lips and lifted his head to stare down at her. She kept her eyes shut tightly and lay perfectly still, making no sound save for her heavy breathing, and making no effort to hide the tears that were streaming down the sides of her face. She didn't want to look at him. She was afraid of what his eyes would tell her this time, and more than anything, she felt that she couldn't bear to look at the fierce stare of desire that she was sure would be there.

"I never will understand what you see in that imbecile," he said quietly, his cheeks rather flushed, but his expression strangely calm and collected.

Bulma's eyes shot open in surprise, and she gasped. "Y-you knew!" she panted.

"Don't insult me," he replied with a wry chuckle. "Of course I did! Even an imbecile could have been able to see that you only did that to spare that idiot my fury. Do you really think I'm such a fool?"

"If... if you knew," Bulma said uncomfortably, drawing her arms inward a bit, "then why did you let me...?"

Vegita shot her an evil smirk. "Let's just say that I considered your offer even more enticing than my impulse to destroy that pathetic fool," he said in a soft voice that could quite easily have been mistaken for catlike purring.

Bulma felt a shiver run through her body as she looked up into his bright, almost fiery eyes, and she wondered what he was going to do next. Despite her nervousness and apprehension, however, she found much to her displeasure that her cheeks were steadily growing flushed and warm. Unfortunately, this only served to amuse Vegita.

"Perhaps I wasn't the only one who found it so enticing," he chuckled, gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilting her head to one side as he grinned fiendishly at the horrified expression that washed over her face.

Bulma's temper flared in her embarrassment, and her eyes flashed angrily at him. "How dare you even _suggest_ such a ridiculous thing!" she spat at him. "You're nothing but a despicable beast, and I've never been more disgusted in all my life! Now get your sorry ass off of me! You're no pile of feathers, you know!"

Vegita sneered and got to his feet as Bulma sent a last angry growl at him. "You humans are such weaklings," he scoffed, walking over to the control panel and turning off the gravity machine. "It's a wonder your whole race wasn't already wiped out before me or my comrades ever got here. You must have a world of luck on your side!"

"It wasn't luck that caused us to defeat you when you did come!" Bulma cried as she scrambled to her feet and balled her fists indignantly, "and it certainly didn't take the whole planet of us to do it, either, or has that feeble pea-brain of yours already forgotten?"

"Indeed it didn't," he replied, his expression darkening. "It took Kakarrott and his half-breed son to accomplish that feat – a feat which never recur, and which most certainly did not require the aid of any of the pathetic humans who were there at the time," he pointed out with a sneer.

"Pathetic?!" Bulma exclaimed, growing hotter by the second. "Now you listen here, jerkwad! I'll have you know that by human standards, I'm one of the strongest there is!"

"Feh. That isn't saying much," Vegita snorted, smirking and shaking his head at her in disappointment.

Bulma marched forward until she was right up in Vegita's face. "Why don't you try saying that again?" she said in a soft, menacing hiss.

Vegita shot her a challenging smirk. "What else would you have me say?" he asked innocently. "Is it my fault that you're simply a pathetic human female who wouldn't last an entire second of actual fighting? I see nothing wrong with pointing out one or two of your shortcomings now and then, considering the fact that you have so many to go around."

Bulma appeared ready to tear him to pieces, judging from the furious, terrible anger in her expression. She was so angry that she was actually shaking with rage. Surprisingly though, for once she maintained her focus and didn't fly off the handle at him. She wasn't in the mood to make an idiot of herself a second time today. She was going to do something that would actually achieve the results she wanted.

"All right," she said finally, in a slow, purposeful, and dangerously quiet tone of voice. She spun around and began to march straight for the door.

"Where are you going, weakling?" he called after her with only mild interest.

"This 'weakling' is going to go fix your damn gravity room so that she can get you the hell out of hers!" Bulma shouted at him with her back still turned. "The sooner I fix your blasted building and get you out of here, the happier I'll be!"

"Fine," Vegita replied with a curt nod. "You do that, and then tomorrow I'll expect you back in here with me no later than eight o'clock. Don't be late."

Bulma came to a grinding halt. He had said it just as plainly as if he had been announcing what was to be for dinner. Bulma slowly turned around, and she gaped at Vegita, her facial expression a mingling of disbelief and suppressed rage.

"What did you just say to me?" she asked, her voice quaking in repressed fury.

"I said you're to be here tomorrow morning no later than eight," Vegita said, his expression hardening. "I won't repeat myself again, woman."

"And just why, in Heaven's name, would I _ever_ agree to do such a thing?!" she exploded at him.

"Because," he replied, puffing up importantly, "I'm going to rid you of this affinity you have for weakness. You're going to abandon the leisurely training regimen you've been following for the one I'll create for you, and at the end of three years, you may very well still be a weakling, but you certainly won't be as much of one! I'll see to that!"

Bulma looked like she was about to erupt like Freeza on a bad day. "Never in all my...! I just can't believe...! That you would dare...! You can't be...!" She was so infuriated that she was having difficulty forming complete sentences, but she did somehow manage to get the next one out. "I would have to be utterly insane to consent to such a thing!" she hollered at him.

Vegita rolled his eyes. "Spare me the melodramatics," he said curtly. "Why do you say that? Are you afraid of real training? Is that it?"

"I am when the result will be me in a coma!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms into the air and glaring at him with eyes that nearly bugged out of her head. "I've seen what you consider 'real training,' Vegita, and let me be the first to inform you that it's sheer lunacy, even for you! But hey, by all means, let's just ignore the fact that if you use your own insane standards for me, I'll be dead after the first day! It's only a minor technicality, after all! Ha!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Vegita yelled back. "I wasn't suggesting that I begin your training in the magnitude I reserve for myself! Stop being such a coward and use your fool brain for once, you stupid girl! Don't think I haven't seen the way you train too! Let me be the first to inform _you_ that it's the most disgustingly inferior method I've ever witnessed! In fact, your methods are so ridiculously ineffective that I'm quite surprised that you've managed to improve at all!"

Bulma couldn't ever remember feeling so insulted. "Why... y-... you insufferable jerk!" she stuttered angrily. "How _dare_ you! Just what, pray tell, is wrong with my 'methods,' anyway, oh wise master?"

"First and foremost," he said, his expression becoming businesslike and very serious indeed, "is the lax way that you increase the power on your gravity machine as you advance. The most basic requirement to make any training worthwhile is to do it in an environment that challenges you to the limit of your ability," he said sternly, "and that feeble method you use of turning up the power a few notches at a time and letting yourself grow accustomed to each level before going to the next is most definitely not fulfilling that requirement."

Bulma glared at him in silent, angry resentment. She wanted very badly to have a witty, snide comment to throw back at him, but his words actually made a good bit of sense – sense which she couldn't help but consider for a few seconds. He did have a point, she thought grudgingly. It probably would be more effective that way... but so what? She could fix that on her own! She certainly didn't need _him_ hovering over her and ordering her about!

It was as if Vegita had read her mind. "Of course, that's only the beginning," he said, scowling again. "Your form is atrocious, and you're slower than a garden slug. It'll take a lot of guidance and direction to remedy that, in addition to making sure you stick to your training regimen." He smirked proudly at her then, as if he were offering to bestow the rarest and most precious of gifts upon her.

Bulma was livid with anger. Of all the nerve! Just issuing a veritable decree that he was taking over her training as though he had all the right in the world to do so! "You're acting as if I have no say in the matter," she snapped at him, crossing her arms and shooting him a withering glare.

Vegita stared back at her in surprise. "And you're acting as if the idea isn't to your liking," he replied.

"Ooh, you catch on quick!" Bulma muttered caustically. "I can't get anything past you, can I?"

Vegita scowled. "You will train my way, or your training will be meaningless," he said coldly. "The Jinzouningen – if they are indeed as powerful as that boy from the future said they are – will be nothing for someone like you to take lightly."

At first, she only glared contemptuously at him for the insult he'd given her, but all at once Bulma's expression softened as she realized something. In his own rude, obnoxious way, Vegita was probably trying to tell her that he was concerned about the likelihood of her survival in the upcoming fight with the Jinzouningen. She did agree that, as things stood now, she didn't have much of a chance. She very much doubted that three years of intense training would have prepared her for Freeza, much less a threat more powerful than that super saiyan from the future. Would it really matter if she trained Vegita's way instead of hers? Just how much of a difference could training from Vegita make, anyway? It wasn't going to change the fact that she was only a human being. She could never be as powerful as a super saiyan, and even that boy from the future – who _was _a super saiyan – couldn't beat them in his time. Was there any point in training herself ragged over this?

"And what about your training?" she demanded skeptically. "You can't drop everything to train me, you know."

Vegita's smirk broadened. "I'll train myself at night," he said, lifting his head pompously. "It _is_ true that training you won't tax me in the least, but you'll only last eight hours at the most with the regimen I'll have developed. I'll manage, even if it does cut into my own time a little."

Bulma scowled again. If he made one more crack at her being weaker than he...

"So," he said at last. "What's it to be?" He stood there, leaning up against the gravity machine with his arms crossed and his face the very image of arrogance. Bulma glared at him. Despite her doubts about whether it would be worth it or not, she had to admit that she was curious. The warrior in her couldn't help but wonder just how strong he could make her. Still, she definitely had reservations. Today had proven just how unpredictable Vegita could be, and she wasn't sure if she could trust herself to keep ahead of him if he tried anything again. All the same, she'd hate to give the jerk the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to her. It couldn't hurt to at least give it a try, could it? Yeah, right. That was like saying the same thing before trying out bungee jumping without a bungee cord. She sighed angrily and shook her head. What the hell. She didn't have much else left to lose. If he did conveniently forget that she hated his guts and try to kiss her again, she could always just move away. She had heard Siberia was lovely this time of year.

"Fine," she snapped at last. "I'll give this training of yours a shot, Vegita, but I'm warning you now: this whole business is completely over the moment you try to seduce me again!" All at once she realized that she hadn't used the exact words for what she had been thinking, and she felt her cheeks flush furiously in response. She had turned bright scarlet within only a matter of seconds, and Vegita simply grinned shamelessly at her, looking entirely pleased with himself. God, he was unbearable!

Before she could say anything else to horribly embarrass herself, she whirled around and launched herself out the door, not even bothering to slam it behind her as she fled his company. She sprinted back toward the house, and she could be distinctly heard exclaiming things like "dolt," "idiot," and "moron" to herself along the way. Her head was bent down low, and she wasn't paying any attention at all to the world around her. She was so lost in her own furious embarrassment that it shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did when she crashed headlong into Yamucha. She knocked him over and went vaulting over him before finally landing with a mighty splat as she fell flat on her face.

Dazed, they both slowly sat up and stared at each other in confusion. Neither one said anything at first, but Yamucha was the first one to make a move. He glared stonily at her for the briefest of moments before getting up and turning around to walk away.

"Yamucha, wait!" Bulma said, knowing exactly why he was angry with her, and not blaming him a bit for it. "I need to talk to you, Yamucha. Please wait."

"I have nothing to say to you, Bulma," he shot back curtly, quickening his pace.

"Fine," Bulma said flatly, "then you can listen." She shot around in front of him and held up her hand for him to stop. He crossed his arms and scowled at her, but he didn't turn back around.

"I want to explain something to you," she said without so much as a trace of anger in her voice. "What you saw back there was not what you thought it was."

"Oh it wasn't, was it?" Yamucha snapped. "Don't give me that! You never kissed _me_ like that, Bulma!"

"Yes, well, I hadn't to Vegita either," she said, making a face before glancing down at her feet and shifting uncomfortably in her embarrassment. "Not until today, at least. It was the only thing I could do, Yamucha. Vegita was looked ready to kill you, and you know how he is when he gets so angry; it takes a miracle to make him snap out of it. I did the only thing I could think of that I thought would surprise him enough."

"You kissed Vegita just to keep him from killing me?" Yamucha asked her skeptically.

"Yes," she replied. "I did. I knew that it was a terrible thing to do to you, but I couldn't just let him go berserk on you, either! I figured I'd risk making you hate me if it would mean I could keep him from flying off the deep end."

Yamucha looked like he wasn't really quite ready to believe her yet, but after a few moments he just sighed and shook his head. "I guess I should have known better," he said in a tired voice. "I don't think I could see you falling for someone like Vegita in a million years."

"You're probably right," Bulma said with a relieved smile, "but let's not forget, Yamucha, that just because I'll never feel about Vegita that way doesn't mean that it'll be the same with everyone else. You and I aren't what we used to be, and we never will be again. If I somehow find love again one day, you can't act like some jealous boyfriend and go all crazy on me. You're just going to have to live with it."

"Yeah, I know," he said dully, "but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still in love with you, Bulma. That's just not gonna change."

"Well, be that as it may," Bulma said with an unhappy frown, "nothing can ever come of it. Those times are over. I've already made my choice about that."

Yamucha didn't say anything in reply, and a rather uncomfortable silence followed. All at once, he must have remembered something unpleasant, because his expression immediately shifted to one of angry recollection.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he cried. "I need to ask you something! Just what was going on when I stopped outside the door, Bulma? Vegita was all over you! I saw that setting on the machine, and I definitely saw the way he had you pinned in there! Didn't I tell you that he was going to try something like that? You're always telling me to stop spying on him and leave him alone, but don't you think that what happened today justifies what I've been saying all along? Admit it! The man had you at his mercy, and there was nothing you could do to stop him!"

Bulma sighed. It looked like there was going to be no avoiding it after all. She was just going to have to tell Yamucha the disquieting truth. He was never going to understand or accept any of this otherwise. "Come have a glass of juice with me, Yamucha," she said in a kind but tired voice. "I've got some things I need to tell you, but I want us both to be sitting down when I do."

The strangely calm look on Bulma's face startled Yamucha so much that he could only bring himself to nod and follow her to the house. He had no idea what kind of story he was in for.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: Off to a Rocky Start**

Bulma told Yamucha everything – what Vegita had revealed to her yesterday evening and what had happened in the gravity room today. As she might have expected, Yamucha wasn't taking it all very well.

"I knew it," he said darkly after she had finished. "I knew that freak was watching you way too much for it to be written off as quirky behavior. You shouldn't have agreed to train with him, Bulma. That man's way too dangerous to be trusted."

"I never said I trusted him," she sighed angrily, "but even I can see that if there's a chance that he can help me get stronger faster, then whatever the risks, I should take it. Besides," she added with a shrug, "I think he's on the level about this. He sounded pretty sincere to me."

"Ha!" Yamucha exclaimed loudly. "Sincere my ass! That man's probably never been sincere about a thing in his life! I think this is all just a ploy to get you alone in the gravity room again. In fact, I'm sure of it! You can't do this, Bulma. The guy's dangerous, especially to you."

"I'm not so sure I agree with you," she said thoughtfully, thinking to herself for a moment. "If he really is in love with me, his taking all this time to train me makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. If he really does love me, then I wouldn't expect him to hurt me anyway."

"He never said anything about love, though, did he?" Yamucha persisted. "You said yourself he told you that he 'wanted' you, but you never said he mentioned the word 'love.' I think you're being a little naïve here. How do you know that he doesn't just want you around for purely physical, depraved reasons?"

"Thanks a lot, Yamucha," she muttered, glaring at him in disgust. "You're a real ego-booster, you know that?"

"You know what I mean," he said impatiently. "I tell you, that animal's incapable of real love, Bulma! He probably doesn't even have any idea what it really is!"

Bulma sighed and gave him an angry shake of her head. "Maybe you're right, but at this point in time, I see no reason why that should make any difference. All I want from Vegita is training - nothing more. Whether he knows what real love is or not is irrelevant to me, and I see no reason for me to change my mind simply because of that."

"Dammit, Bulma, you can't do this!" Yamucha cried emphatically, slamming his fist on the table so hard that the force of the blow caused the wood to crack all the way across. Neither of them noticed, though, thanks to their heated discussion. "You're taking way too great a risk here! Think about it! What do you suppose would have happened if I hadn't interrupted Vegita today, huh? Tell me that!"

"I already told you," she grumbled, "he wasn't going to do anything. He stopped when I told him to stop. He just didn't have time to get off of me before you came beating on the door."

"You don't know that for sure," Yamucha persisted. "What would you have done if he had it in his mind to just go ahead and do it anyway? What would you have done if after doing that, he'd thought to himself, 'maybe I'll just go a little bit further'? What would you have done, Bulma? Nothing, that's what! Because of the setting on the gravity machine, there wasn't a damn thing you could have done to stop that bastard, and you know it! He had you right where he wanted you, and I just know that if you take him up on this offer of his, you'll be put in the same position all over again. Is that what you want?"

Bulma glared at him. "Do you think I don't know the risk I'm taking?" she snapped at him. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I'm not an idiot, Yamucha! Sure I know that something like that could happen, and you know what? I'm willing to take that risk. Now, I know that you've had a grudge against Vegita ever since he and his little green freaks killed you, and I don't blame you a bit for that. However, you're just going to have learn that I have a mind of my own, and you don't need to keep trying to protect me from making bad decisions when it comes to Vegita. I believe him when he says that he's going to train me, and I believe him when he says that he's not going to force himself on me. The man is no saint, but I'm going to take the bet that he at least has a bit of integrity."

"Integrity!" Yamucha jeered.

"Yes, integrity!" Bulma retorted hotly. "Vegita may not be any real gentleman, Yamucha, but I'm willing to bet my safety on the hope that he at least has enough integrity to restrain himself."

"And if you're wrong?" Yamucha persisted. "What then?"

"Then I'll have nobody to blame but myself," she sighed with an angry shrug. "Now, this subject is officially closed. I don't want to hear another word of protest out of you, Yamucha," she said, holding up a hand to silence him as he tried to interrupt. "Nothing you can say is going to change my mind, so let's just drop the whole matter and move on."

Growling in frustration, he stood up and stomped off toward the door. Bulma wasn't quite through with him yet, though.

"Oh, and Yamucha?" she said, shooting him a stern glare as he paused and turned around.

"What?" he snapped impatiently.

"Just so you know, I don't want you anywhere near the gravity room while I'm in there with him," she said, closing her eyes and taking a sip of her juice. "Vegita very nearly flew off the deep end when he saw you today, and you'd better believe he'd do it again. Between you and me," she added, making a sour face at him, "I don't want to have to kiss that awful man again just to save your skin."

He took it far better than she would have expected. Without so much as another word, Yamucha stormed out the door, slamming it behind him as he left.

Bulma expelled a tired sigh. Oh well. It looked like she had another long stretch of silent treatment to look forward to. She stared sullenly at her unfinished glass of orange juice as she thought of how lately all her talks with her best friend in the world seemed to end up being arguments about Vegita. It wasn't fair, she thought with a petulant scowl. She hated letting that stupid Saiyan cause so much frustration in her life. She didn't blame Yamucha one bit for disliking him – she could relate.

Sighing again, she got up and went outside to go help her dad. It was already late in the afternoon, but she was sure he wouldn't be too angry with her for waiting so long to come out there and join him. He never was too big on schedules anyway.

Bulma could hardly believe her eyes when she rounded the corner of the lab and came upon the construction site of Vegita's gravity building. She had expected to see the pile of rubble being cleared away by wrecking crews, but she instead found that it was already gone, and that the skeletal frame of Vegita's new gravity building had already been erected!

Dr. Briefs waved heartily as his astonished daughter trotted up to him. "Afternoon, hon!" he cried, beaming happily at her. "I had a breakthrough on my invention this morning! You remember the one we gave up on not too long ago? Well, let me introduce you to the new and improved Constructo-bot!" He pointed to a score of basketball-sized robots that were busily putting the finishing touches on the frame of Vegita's gravity building.

"Wow! Hardy little buggers, aren't they?" Bulma gasped in amazement, jumping back as one whizzed by, holding up a huge panel of concrete in its spindly little arms.

"The strongest yet!" Dr. Briefs replied proudly. "I've programmed the building's design into their action control modules. These babies are even faster than we are! The best part of all is that they'll be able to work nonstop until it's done! They'll work overnight while we sleep, and Vegita's new gravity building should be all finished before we wake up tomorrow morning!"

Bulma just smiled and shook her head at him. Sometimes her father seemed to her to be the laziest man on Earth, and yet, she couldn't help but marvel at a man who always worked so hard at being so lazy. They watched in silence for a few moments as the busy little things scurried around with their huge loads like mechanized ants.

"You know, the Red Ribbon would have killed for technology like this," Bulma remarked with a light frown.

Dr. Briefs frowned too. "The Red Ribbon army killed for all their technology, and most of it they stole outright - that is, until Gero joined them. When he and his band of scientists began working for them, the Red Ribbon didn't need to steal their technology anymore. They _created_ it. The Red Ribbon army probably never would have become such a superpower if it hadn't been for Dr. Gero."

Bulma nodded, but she thought it rather strange for her father to know all this with such certainty. "Speaking of which," she said, suddenly remembering something. "Have you been able to dig up anything on Gero yet?"

"A little," he replied, smiling and nodding before motioning for her to follow him into the lab. He led her into his office, and after sitting down at his work desk, he opened one of the top drawers. He pulled out a faded and somewhat yellowed magazine and handed it to her.

"Here," he said. "I found this in a stack of old scientific journals in the attic. There's a small article about him on page fifteen," he added as she thumbed through its pages.

Bulma found the article, but the photo above it caught her eyes first. "Is this Gero?" she asked, pointing to it.

Dr. Briefs glanced at the photo and scowled. "As much as I've tried to erase that man's image from my mind, I'm afraid I'd recognize him anywhere," he muttered. "Without a doubt, that is Dr. Gero."

"What?" Bulma said in surprise. "You never met Gero personally, did you Dad?" she asked him.

"Unfortunately, yes, I did," he replied angrily, clenching his teeth and balling his hands into fists, "and it was under the most unpleasant of circumstances. I met the awful man just after he'd joined the Red Ribbon. He'd come looking for me in order to ask me to join up with him. Naturally, I refused. No self-respecting scientist would ever use his gifts for any of what the Red Ribbon stood for, and you can bet that I told him so right to his face. He got very angry with me then, and he threatened to have you and your mother killed if I didn't cooperate."

"What?!" Bulma cried angrily. "When was this?!"

"When you were only a couple of years old," he replied. "I'd already made a name for myself by then, and my corporation was just beginning to take off. Gero must have figured I'd make a nice addition to that little band of rogue scientists he'd collected."

"What did you do?" Bulma asked, still full of surprise at this revelation.

"The only thing I could do," he replied, closing his eyes. "I built this compound and focused all of my resources into building up its defenses. I knew Gero wielded some power in the Red Ribbon, and he most certainly wouldn't let my insulting refusal go unpunished. I had determined to prepare myself for it. Sure enough, the Red Ribbon did try several times to breach the walls of the compound and break through the rigid defenses I'd created for it. Fortunately, though, they failed every time. I may be a technical genius, but I know my share about defensive maneuvers as well. Unfortunately for Gero, his Red Ribbon army wasn't any match for my defender drones, at least not then. If that infernal army had been given time to grow, however, they very well may have become too much to handle. It's fortunate that you ran into your friend Goku, my dear. If it hadn't been for him, we all may very well have been killed by now.

"In any event," he continued, "when they figured out that they couldn't get to us, they eventually gave up on the compound, but they didn't give up on _me_ altogether. The Red Ribbon army held a grudge against me for many years, and just because they couldn't get to me or my family didn't mean they were going to leave me be. Instead, they attacked the corporation itself, in the form of isolated terrorist attacks on my factories and offices around the country. So many of my loyal employees lost their lives in the attacks made by that infernal organization!" he snarled angrily. "Too many! I know the names and families of every one of them, even to this day!"

Dr. Briefs had shot to his feet, and he had pressed his hands on the desk. His head was down, and he was visibly shaking from emotion.

"Dad," Bulma said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She'd never seen her father so angry and overwhelmed by emotion before.

"It's okay," he said, waving it away. "I... I've never been able to forget those poor people who lost family and friends to those terrible attacks, and I don't want to, either."

Bulma looked down at her feet. "I never knew," she said quietly. "I mean, I knew the Red Ribbon disliked us because we were in direct competition with them when it came to robotics, but I never knew that they had done all that. Why didn't you ever tell me about any of this? Did Mom know?"

"I tried to hide it all from your mother at first," he sighed, sitting back down again and rubbing his eyes wearily, "but I couldn't hide it from her forever. She figured it out eventually, after the first couple of attacks the Red Ribbon made on our compound. I had to tell her then, but we both agreed to keep it from you. You were still in school, and you were terribly happy. We didn't want to ruin that. You quite easily could have found out on your own, if the bodyguards I'd sent out every day to keep an eye on you hadn't been so incredibly swift and silent."

"You what?" Bulma cried. "Bodyguards? Dad, I had to be the only sixteen year old in my college that was fully armed every day! I knew the Red Ribbon had spies everywhere, and I never put it past them even then to try to pressure you into closing down our corporation if they were able to get their hands on me. I could have taken care of myself, you know. I didn't need any old bodyguards watching me," she added indignantly.

Dr. Briefs laughed. "Yes, I knew from the start that you weren't afraid of anything," he chuckled. "And yes, I knew you carried that ridiculous handgun with you all the time too, but you have to realize dear, that the Red Ribbon would hardly have been intimidated by one teenage girl with a small handgun. I had faith in your resourcefulness, but I didn't want to take any chances. Thank God they never tested us, though. Until you got mixed up in that little skirmish with them when you joined Goku, the Red Ribbon just left you alone. It rather surprised me that they had done that, as a matter of fact."

"Hmph," Bulma snorted. "Well, they may not have been intimidated by me, but they certainly didn't last long once they got on Goku's bad side; that was for sure. I just wish I'd been able to help more than I did. Back then I didn't have the slightest idea how fun or fulfilling martial arts was, so Goku did all of the rough stuff. I just helped with the technical parts of the trip. I was glad he was on our side then, just like I am that he's on our side now," she laughed.

Dr. Briefs smiled. "Me too," he said. "Now, why don't you go ahead and read that article? If I remember correctly, there were a few things in there that you may find very interesting."

Bulma nodded. She began to read the article aloud.

"The search for renowned biophysics engineer Dr. Henry Gero was finally called off this week as government officials have concluded that he has either died or has left the country altogether. After an extensive search of the entire mountain range surrounding Metro North, government officials were unable to find any trace of Gero, failing to confirm the rumors that he had constructed a secret laboratory hidden deep within the mountains. You may remember that Gero was allegedly the head scientist under the charge of the infamous Red Ribbon army before it disbanded some time ago. Gero was considered by some to be one of the most brilliant scientists of our time, rivaled only by Dr. Briefs - founder and owner of Hoi Poi Capsule Corporation. The research done by Dr. Gero during his alleged commission with the Red Ribbon remains a mystery, but former advocates of the Red Ribbon claim that he had succeeded in creating a humanlike form of artificial intelligence. These claims, not unlike those concerning his whereabouts, have thus far been unconfirmed. Unless he resurfaces of his own accord, the location and activities of Dr. Henry Gero may well have to remain a mystery."

"There you have it," Dr. Briefs said with a shrug. "I know the info's pretty sketchy, and that magazine's pretty old; we haven't been 'Hoi Poi' for many years. I thought it would at least be something to go on, though."

Bulma didn't reply at first. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, and without opening her eyes, she began to speak.

"I'm thinking about something Goku told me once," she began slowly, folding her arms and lowering her head as she probed her memory. "It was something about a strange man he ran into during his fight with the Red Ribbon up north. He said this man had a body that was was hard like stone, and that he was extremely powerful. He was supposed to be under the charge of the Red Ribbon army, but for some reason, he didn't like to fight, and he really didn't like to hurt people. He befriended Goku, and even helped him win against the Red Ribbon's installment up there. Goku renamed him Hacchan after that whole ordeal, but he said that the Red Ribbon had simply called him Hachi-gou, or number eight. I'll bet he was an artificial human. Gero must have been creating them even then. He got up to eight, at least, but that one certainly doesn't sound anything like the ones we'll have to face in three years. It's no wonder, either. Gero's had quite a few years to perfect his designs since that 'failure.' I guess Hacchan was a fluke, but it does seem to support the idea that Gero actually _had_ been able to create a humanlike form of artificial intelligence after all."

"I guess that's one rumor that turned out to be true then," Dr. Briefs remarked, nodding and crossing his arms. "Now what about that part about his creating a secret lab in those mountains around Metro North? I wonder how much truth there is to that one? The fact that our government didn't find anything doesn't mean much at all. If Gero really did have a lab in those mountains, there's no way our government would ever find it. I'm almost sure of that."

"More than anything, I'd love to find out for sure," Bulma said, opening her eyes and hardening her expression, "but I'm not even going to try. If I knew where he was hiding out, I'm not sure if I'd be able to resist the temptation to pay the good doctor a little visit. It would be foolish of me to go charging into his lab, not knowing what to expect. Who knows? He may already have those creatures built without their being perfected yet. At least for now, I'm just going to stick to my training and hope for the best. We'll follow Goku's plan, even though I think he's taking way too much of a risk here. If I could convince him to go with me out there, I'd be more willing to try making a preemptive strike, but on my own, I'm too afraid that I'm not strong enough to take the chance."

Dr. Briefs nodded. "You know your own limits better than any of us," he agreed with a warm smile, "but you're also your own worst judge, dear. Don't sell yourself short around me, Bulma. I won't have it. I know better than even you that you're the strongest, most intelligent girl in the world."

"Aw, Dad!" Bulma laughed, giving him a light squeeze around the neck. "You're just supposed to say that because you're my father!"

"So what if I'm a little biased?" he laughed indignantly, hugging her back. "It's my right, after all!"

Bulma smiled. "Well, thanks for the article, Dad. Maybe it'll come in handy," she said, picking up the magazine and staring intently at the gray-haired man in the photograph.

"Any time, sweetie," he replied with a casual grin. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed suddenly, smacking his right fist into his left palm. "I sent a couple of Constructo-bots down to Yamucha's gravity room to patch up that hole. They'll have it mended and ready to go again within the hour."

"Thanks!" Bulma laughed, tucking the rolled-up magazine under her arm. "Yamucha'll be glad to hear it!" She waved goodbye to him and trotted out the door to go find Yamucha. Maybe a good sparring match would cheer him up. She hoped he wouldn't stay mad at her for too long.

- - - - -

Bulma and Yamucha had a long, thorough training session that evening, and Yamucha did manage to calm down a little. Bulma knew that he was never going to warm up to the idea that she would be training with Vegita, but she was willing to accept that as simply a facet of his nature. He detested Vegita, and for good reason. He was never going to feel any differently about him, and that was all there was to it. Bulma understood, but that wasn't enough to change her mind about training with testy Saiyan. Sooner or later, Yamucha was going to have to accept that.

When she turned in early that night, Bulma had a hard time falling asleep. Her nerve was starting to fail her, now that she was defending her actions from herself instead of Yamucha. What if he was at least partly right? Was it possible that Vegita might not really be _intending_ to take advantage of her, but might do it on impulse if the opportunity presented itself? Only just this morning she might have answered in the affirmative... Just the same, he _had_ at least stopped when she'd begged him to, so maybe he would try harder to control himself from now on, so that they could avoid situations like that.

She shivered as she remembered the way her resistance had failed her when Vegita'd leaned over her to kiss her. She didn't know what was going to happen if he tried that again. She certainly had not been willing to allow him to do that to her, but why had it been so hard for her to openly refuse him? Every time he stared at her like that she could feel her limbs grow numb and all her defenses against him begin to melt like a sand castle in the surf. It seemed almost as if he was bewitching her when he did that. It was both disturbing and alarming, and it made her have more than her fair share of concerns about allowing herself to be shut up in the gravity room alone with him again. All the same, she was too stubborn to admit defeat and back out of it now.

Despite all these worrisome and disturbing thoughts, Bulma finally did manage to find sleep. All too soon, however, her alarm clock struck seven and it was time to get up and face the firing squad. It took her all of a half-hour to wash up and get dressed, and she waited anxiously on a chair in the kitchen for the remaining half-hour to come and go. She was too jittery to be hungry.

Sighing, she got up and walked outside. She was also too restless to sit still. She had to do something, and she would rather spend the endless minutes walking aimlessly than sitting in one place and allowing her thoughts to take over. She went for a walk, which soon enough took her all over the compound. She still had some fifteen minutes left when she happened to pass Vegita's new gravity room, and she paused as she looked at it. What better way to get rid of nervous energy than a brisk, warming workout? Why not? She might as well break it in a little for him. A warm-up wouldn't hurt.

Bulma walked in and locked the door behind her. She walked over to the control panel and paused for a few moments. What level should she start with? She knew Vegita would more than likely choose some ungodly level for her, but she only wanted a light warm-up, after all. She set the machine for fifty and turned it on.

It only took a second for Bulma to realize that something was dreadfully wrong. The machine made a funny popping sound inside one of the side panels, and Bulma lurched downward as she suddenly found herself in a gravity field much too great for her to bear. She screamed in pain as she made one desperate, clumsy, and unsuccessful effort to launch herself upright enough to reach the off switch on the control panel. Instead, she banged her forehead on the edge of the control panel and landed flat on her stomach on the floor.

The wind had been knocked out of her, and she had temporarily blacked out, but only for a few moments. She suddenly came screaming back to her senses, and she tried to call for help, but as the air was still vacant from her lungs, she could do no more than utter a short, plaintive squeak. Tears stung in her eyes as she struggled to fill her lungs with air. The weight of her own body in this gravity was more force than her lungs could exert as she tried to draw in new breath. She mustered a small burst of frenzied strength as she tried to fling herself onto her back, and she found to her relief that she was successful in flopping over, albeit rather clumsily. Now at least she could breathe a little more easily, but every muscle in her body was screaming in protest at the pressure of its own increased weight. Bulma found herself wishing that she'd never left the house this morning.

Her head was throbbing. She'd knocked it in the very same place that she'd been struck yesterday, and the pain was nearly unbearable. She grinned angrily at herself as she thought of what Vegita would have had to say about her redundant little mishap. She was glad he hadn't been there to see it. Still, she would have liked someone to be around, because she wasn't quite sure how she was going to get herself out of this predicament. As it was, she was in such terrific gravity that she couldn't even pick her arms up off of the floor, much less the rest of her body. She was stuck, and it was all she could do to keep from panicking.

Bulma was beginning to feel a little dizzy. She knew why, but the knowledge did little to comfort her. The same thing happened to space shuttle pilots during the most intense g-force training. The human brain behaved in inconvenient ways when subjected to a high-level, constantly directed gravitational field. For one thing, all the blood would "sink" to the far end of the head - the end closest to the direction of the gravitational force. In Bulma's case, that was toward the floor. Unfortunately, if that blood is held idle long enough, the resulting lack of oxygen flow to the brain will cause undesirable effects on the health of the person involved. After a short time, a simple loss of consciousness will occur. If the situation is prolonged, however, more severe effects, such as brain damage, and even death, can occur. Bulma knew she had a much greater tolerance for these things than a typical space shuttle pilot, but none of _them_ had ever experienced anything this severe before. She knew she only had a few precious moments of consciousness left, but she didn't know how she was going to use them to her advantage. panic finally set in, and she struggled fiercely to get up. Unfortunately, the activity - however sluggish it was - drained her far too quickly, and it was only a few moments before she ceased to move at all, save for the unsteady rise and fall of her chest.

The lights on the ceiling began to blur and darken as she gradually lost consciousness. Her last conscious thought was that she wondered how Vegita was going to react if she died here.

- - - - -

Bulma awoke to a concerned but steady voice calling her name, and a hand slapping her lightly on either side of her face. "Bulma!" the voice said again, more clearly this time. "Open your eyes!"

She did as the vaguely familiar voice commanded, and she waited for the fuzziness to subside. She groaned as a sharp pain in her temple grew in strength, and she raised a hand to her face, feeling the familiar lump there and wincing as it sent agonizing daggers of pain into her skull. Suddenly she began to realize where she was, and that she could actually move again. The fuzziness in her brain began to steadily melt away, and she sat up rather woozily as her blurred vision slowly began to focus. She turned to squint at the person beside her, but she still couldn't quite identify him by sight alone. Her chi sense was more reliable at the moment, and it gave her a clearer picture.

"Vegita?" she said, sounding rather unsure. "Is that you?"

"God dammit, woman!" he said thunderously, with more than the barest trace of relief in his voice. "What the hell happened to you?"

Bulma winced as the loudness of his voice had caused her aching head to spin. "The machine malfunctioned," she said quietly. "I wanted to have a short warm-up before I went out to meet you this morning, so I decided to try out your new gravity room. Something went wrong when I turned the machine on, though. I set it for only fifty, but it made a weird popping sound, and then the gravity went up so much that I couldn't even move. I don't know what went wrong. This time it wasn't my tinkering that made it misbehave," she laughed in a rather embarrassed voice, scratching the back of her head.

Vegita's eyes glittered with rage, but he didn't say anything else. Bulma looked up at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry Vegita, but you won't be able to use this place just yet," she said, shrugging. "I'll let Dad know so that he can figure out what went wrong and fix it. I suppose he must've messed up the program in the Constructo-bots. It was probably a simple mistake. He and I both tend to make our technical mistakes on the most ridiculously simple things."

"Perhaps," Vegita said darkly, looking up and scowling at the gravity machine. "Unless it was no mistake. This might all have been intentional."

Bulma glanced skeptically at first the gravity machine, and then back at Vegita. "Intentional? But Vegita, why would you say that? I know I didn't mess with it this time, and besides, if it was intentional, why would someone have done that? Who'd want to kill me?"

Vegita scowled more deeply and looked back at her. "I seriously doubt you would be the intended target of sabotage like this," he said angrily. "This isn't your gravity room, is it?"

Bulma's eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at. She glanced down at her lap and swallowed nervously. She could only think of one man around here who would have the animosity to do something so terrible to Vegita. Even so, she didn't think Vegita had done enough to provoke such an insidious act. She hoped he was wrong about all this, and that it was just a simple mistake in the robots' programming.

"How did you get in here?" she asked suddenly, deciding it was time to change the subject. "I locked the door."

"I know how to work the outside controls too," Vegita replied, his scowl fading a little. "It's a good thing for you that I'm not such a numskull that I'd use a machine before learning all I need to learn about it."

Despite what he had just insinuated, Bulma couldn't help but smile at him. "Thank you," she said warmly. "I'd have been in really bad shape if you hadn't done that, Vegita. It looks like you've gone and saved my scrawny neck yet again."

Vegita's face became a little ruddier than normal, but he pretended not to notice as he helped her to her feet. She wavered unsteadily for a few moments. "Can you walk?" he asked her, dubiously studying the wobbly way she was swaying on her feet.

Bulma grimaced. She hated looking so weak in front of him; it was terribly embarrassing. "No, I'll be fine," she said quietly, avoiding his eyes. "I just have to regain my balance. I still feel a little dizzy." She gently pulled her arm away from him, but she could easily tell that he was rather reluctant to let go of it.

"Um, give me a half-hour to recover, okay?" she said, carefully bracing herself on unsteady legs and glancing up at his face. That had been a mistake. The look of concern there was only barely visible through the scowl of irritation, but it was more than enough to make her feel strange and awkward. "Er," she stammered, struggling for the words she wanted. "It won't really take me too long to get over this. Then we can start. O-okay, Vegita?" She stepped back away from him a little, dropping her gaze to study her feet and wishing he'd just go away and let her stave off her pounding head and dizziness in peace.

Vegita crossed his arms. "You still want to train today?" he asked skeptically, as if he didn't think she was being honest with him.

Bulma raised her head again, and her voice sounded slightly annoyed when she answered. "Well, yeah," she said matter-of-factly. "It's not like I've been crippled or anything, Vegita. I just hit my head again, and it's made me a little dizzy. It won't take long for me to get over that." She frowned at him and crossed her arms too. "I'm not _that_ much of a weakling."

Vegita smirked at her. "That remains to be seen," he grunted. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you, either," he added with a note of challenge in his voice.

Bulma's eyes flashed, and she shot him an angry smirk of her own. "You'd be insulting me otherwise," she said coolly, "and I don't take too well to insults."

Vegita laughed, but it wasn't the kind of laugh she was used to hearing from him. This laugh sounded, well... natural. It almost sounded _happy_.

"I don't take kindly to people who laugh at me, either," she added, trying to mask the puzzlement in her voice as she tried to consider what such a weird-sounding laugh was doing coming from someone like Vegita.

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "Why don't you do something about it then? Don't just stand there talking about it."

Bulma frowned. It suddenly occurred to her that she and Vegita always seemed to do this when they were together for any length of time. Arguing with Vegita seemed so natural to her. It was almost as if she actually enjoyed it, and it seemed as though he felt the same way. She supposed it wouldn't bother her so much if it weren't for the fact that every time they did this, she usually ended up in some compromising situation with him that she didn't want. It made her want to keep her guard up constantly when she was around him, and it was this impulse which told her that she'd better leave for now.

"Why don't I instead go and walk this off," she said, shaking her head and walking toward the door to leave. "I'll meet you in my gravity room in a half-hour, Vegita," she said, pausing before stepping outside. "We're gonna have to use that one until we can test this one fully and make sure all the glitches are gone anyway. While I'm walking this off, I'll go let my dad know what went wrong in here and have him check it out."

"Fine," he said with a shrug. "That will have to suffice then. Don't be late," he added as she stepped out the door.

Bulma shook her head and headed out to the lab building. When she got there, she found that Dr. Briefs had not arrived yet. Well, it was still early, after all. Her dad liked to sleep in whenever he could. She wrote him a short note about what had happened, and she left it on his desk for him to read whenever he got there.

Bulma didn't really know what to do with herself after she left the lab building. Truth be told, she felt much better now that she'd stepped out into the fresh air and moved around a bit, and she was fairly sure that she was about as ready to begin now as she had been prior to that little mishap in Vegita's new gravity room. With a shrug, she decided to just go on ahead to hers and wait for him there. She doubted he'd be long anyway. She had figured he'd show up in there long before she was supposed to.

She flew slowly out to her gravity room and found that Vegita wasn't there yet when she arrived. She went in and sat on one of the benches to wait for him. She rested her chin on her hands and began to think. Although she was physically all right, the events of the morning had left her mind in a state of mental disarray. She was trying to figure out just what was going on. The fact that she'd nearly been killed didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as the way Vegita had acted did. He'd seemed almost, well... almost nice. It was a peculiar thing - one to which Bulma wasn't altogether sure how she should react. Vegita was too much of a belligerent, rude, obnoxious jerk for her to waste so much thought on him, but the way he had acted this morning really didn't set well in her mind. He had shown what had appeared to be genuine concern for her this morning, and it just didn't seem right somehow.

"Let's just say Vegita does... er... _want_ me," Bulma thought to herself with a frown. "Even if that is the case, it just doesn't sound right for him to act so out of character. I mean, sure, I guess it would make sense that he wouldn't want me to _die_, but if he'd really been acting like Vegita, he'd have probably teased me about my carelessness or something. Maybe... maybe he was really shaken up about the whole thing." The idea that Vegita was so upset by the fact that she had been in such danger really made Bulma uncomfortable.

Bulma found herself wondering just which version of Vegita she preferred, and she quickly concluded that the aggravating, domineering, rude Vegita was much more tolerable than this weird one. At least the first one was familiar; she had no idea how to act around the other Vegita. Bulma leaned back and rested her head on folded hands up against the wall. She hoped he'd be back to his cranky, bossy, obnoxious self again when he came in to begin her training. She'd find it awfully hard to concentrate unless he was completely insufferable.

Bulma was still mulling these things over in her mind when Vegita came in. She didn't notice the door open, but she heard it slam behind him. She looked up and was rather surprised to notice that he was still wearing his blue leggings, but he had removed the white shirt he'd been wearing earlier. She had forgotten that Vegita often preferred to train like this, and in fact it was rare for him to wear anything above his waist at all when he was training in the gravity room. She caught herself gaping at his upper body, focusing on the way his muscles twitched and stretched as he walked, and she immediately averted her vision to the floor, blushing furiously. What the hell was wrong with her? Why in the world would she pay attention to something like _that_ all of the sudden? Suddenly she realized who was to blame for all of this. She was going to have to yell at her mother later!

Vegita did a few practice stretches before standing up and staring at her. "You recovered yet?" he asked gruffly, noticing that she was still sitting stiffly on the bench. Bulma didn't look up at him.

"I'm fine," she replied quietly. "I'm just having some difficulty preparing my mind for this. By the way," she added, trying to sound nonchalant, "do you not have any more clean shirts? I can get you one if you want." Her face burned, and she knew that if she looked up at him and he saw her blushing like an idiot, she'd never hear the end of it. Why the hell did she have to be in such an asinine predicament as this? It wasn't as though she had _liked_ what she'd seen or anything. She found herself becoming angry with him, as though it was his fault that she was so uncomfortable. What business did he have walking around in front of her without a shirt on, anyway?

Vegita looked a little puzzled for a moment, and then a confused frown appeared on his face. "What's the matter?" he demanded. "Why would you ask me such a ridiculous thing?"

Bulma shrank inward a little as he stepped more closely to her in his impatience. "Nothing's the matter with _me_," she snapped angrily, feeling even her ears burn in her embarrassment. She hoped he couldn't see them through her hair. "_I'm_ not the one who walks out in broad daylight, parading around the world without all my clothes on." She had tried to sound insulting and to let him know what an idiot he was being, but unfortunately, she only succeeded in alerting him to just why she was so agitated.

Vegita cracked a cruel grin at her. "So that's it," he said with a sneer. "Does it really affect you so strongly to see my naked skin?"

Bulma turned even redder, but she knew it was no use trying to hide it any longer, so she raised her head to glare at him. "Go to hell!" she snapped at him. "You think it's funny, do you? Well, how would you feel if _I_ came in here without a shirt on?" She realized as he shot her a devilish smirk that she had done a terrible job of choosing her words.

"Ugh! Don't you dare answer that!" she exclaimed angrily, thinking as he shot her a broad, toothy grin that there was no possible way for her to feel any more embarrassed than she already did. "God, you're such an asshole!" she growled, scowling as she resumed glaring at the floor. Why did she always end up making a fool of herself whenever she was around him?

"Feh," Vegita said with a shrug. "It just so happens that I prefer being unrestricted by unnecessary garments, but far be it from me to be unreasonable! If you find the sight of my body to be such a distraction to you..."

"Just forget I even said anything!" Bulma interjected furiously, leaping to her feet and baring her teeth at him. "I'm just fine, thank you very much! Turn the damn machine on already and drop it!"

Vegita stared at her with an unsure frown for a couple of seconds, but then he smirked and crossed his arms. "Suit yourself," he said smugly. "Feel free to let me know if you stare at me too much and find yourself weak in the knees again."

Bulma looked like she was about to pop a vessel. "Machine! On! _Now_!" she exploded.

Vegita smirked, uncrossed his arms, and strolled over to the control panel to turn the machine on. Bulma watched him set it for eighty, and she gave a silent groan. It was going to be a long day.

- - - - -

The next four hours were the worst four hours of Bulma's life. Vegita was like a drill sergeant from Hell, barking orders and criticisms at her while she struggled and sweated under eighty g's of pressure. Remarkably, though, at the end of it all she could still move a little. He had somehow managed to limber her up with nearly impossible stretches and warm-ups in the beginning, and she actually managed to go for a whole four hours before finally begging him to let her stop.

"No more!" she gagged at him, putting up her hands and stumbling backward a bit. "I'm totally spent, Vegita!"

Vegita must have believed her, and she wasn't surprised, given how strong his chi sense had become lately. Still, he made a big show of shaking his head in disapproval and grumbling something about incurable weaklings as he walked over to the control panel. He turned the machine off and glared sternly at her as her muscles all jerked and spasmed in response to the sudden relief, and she fell onto her back, gasping in an effort to catch her breath.

"Oh God!" she wheezed. "I can hardly move!"

Vegita smirked. For a moment - a very brief one - he sent her a look of grudging approval. "Good," he said, crossing his arms and nodding. "You're still a weakling, but at least I know you didn't wimp out on me. We're done for today. You can do as you like until tomorrow morning."

Still panting heavily, Bulma closed her eyes and gave a slight nod. She hurt everywhere, and not just because of the harsh gravity, either. Vegita's training regimen had included defense training of the worst kind. He had knocked her silly on several occasions, but for the most part, he had simply given her harsh blows in various vulnerable spots while she did her best to counter them. This wasn't easy, considering the fact that she was moving ridiculously slowly. Vegita didn't give her any kind of handicap that she could see, though. Of course, she hadn't much expected him to anyway.

"Well?" Vegita said impatiently, interrupting her thoughts. "Are you gonna move your lazy carcass out of here anytime soon? I've got training of my own to do, woman!"

Bulma groaned and rolled over onto her side so that her back was to him. "I don't feel like getting up," she mumbled crabbily. "I just wanna go to sleep." She was too exhausted to care if he did throw a tantrum at her or something. This was her gravity room anyway. She didn't _have_ to let him use it. She had almost fallen asleep when Vegita suddenly and roughly scooped her up off the floor into his arms. He marched for the door and kicked it open.

"Hey!" Bulma screeched, kicking and flailing around. "Put me down _now_, you psycho!"

"Gladly!" Vegita retorted with a malevolent smirk, and he then dumped her out onto the grass outside the door. He had already slammed the door behind him by the time she'd scrambled to her feet to rush at him.

Bulma stared - bewildered and angry - at the closed door in front of her. Then, surprisingly enough, she grinned. It had just occurred to her that she probably had deserved that. Chuckling and shaking her head, she began to hobble stiffly toward the house, and toward the bed that was screaming her name.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: Results and a Friendly Visit**

Bulma trudged into the house to find it strangely quiet and empty. She didn't really care though; she was so horrendously tired that all she cared about was getting some sleep. She somehow managed to crawl upstairs and crash into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. She couldn't remember ever feeling so exhausted.

Late that same afternoon, she forced herself to wake up and crawl out of bed again. She knew she'd want to be able to sleep tonight if she was going to survive tomorrow's training session. She went downstairs and found her mother and father sitting in the living room, watching TV.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried when she spied her pausing in the hallway. "Dear, there she is!"

"Bulma! There you are!" her father cried, jumping to his feet and hastily making his way to her. "I didn't even realize you were up there! Are you all right? You said in your note that you were in Vegita's gravity room when it malfunctioned. You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "Thanks to Vegita, I'm fine. He turned the machine off from the outside before anything really serious could happen. Did you find out what was wrong with it?"

Dr. Briefs sighed, and immediately a more relaxed expression spread across his face. "Yes, I did," he said, pulling something out of his pocket and holding it up for her to see. It was a small resistor that he must have taken from the control circuit, guessing from the silver paint on the tip. It looked a little splintered.

"Here's the culprit," he said with a frown. "A faulty resistor. It seems I made a grave miscalculation when I had those robots construct the gravity machine. I forgot to account for the advantage human reasoning plays in constructing intricate circuits and electrical equipment. This resistor might have appeared fine before it was put into the machine - or at least it did when the robots inserted it, but I'm afraid it had a couple of cracks in it - cracks that they didn't see, but _we_ might have if we'd been there constructing the machine ourselves. I'm sorry, Bulma, but I can't let either you or Vegita use that gravity room again until I'm sure all the rest of the equipment is safe. This one resistor actually was the culprit in this case, but there were a great many others that weren't tested when you turned the machine on, and I think I'd better check them first. Even though we've isolated your recent problem, there still may be more in the works."

Bulma gave a silent sigh of relief. That took care of Vegita's theory - not to mention her own anxiety about the matter. It was all just a big snafu. She'd never been so relieved to hear that her father had made a mistake. Admittedly, she had suspected Yamucha at first, even though she knew that it wouldn't have been his style to simply break one little resistor. He wouldn't have known what that would do anyway. Besides, if he _had_ been the one to do that, knowing him, he would have stuck around the gravity room to make sure that his plan succeeded. In other words, he would have been watching when she'd gone in, and Bulma knew without a doubt that he would have done everything in his power to get her out of there if he _had_ sabotaged the gravity room.

Even though the malfunction hadn't been intentional, Bulma agreed that it would be wise to make sure that there were no other unplanned hazards in the works. She helped her dad work on Vegita's gravity room for the remainder of the evening, stopping only when she was too tired to think. It really wasn't very late in the day, but she was exhausted nonetheless, and she knew she'd have another rough day ahead of her tomorrow. She turned in early that night, and would do so for many a night afterwards.

The next few weeks of training followed a pattern similar to that of the first day - with a few nasty exceptions. First off, in all his infinite wisdom, Vegita had decided at the end of the week that Bulma had grown too accustomed to eighty g's - despite the fact that she had barely gotten to the point where she could walk somewhat normally - so he made a new decree that the power would be increased by five g's at the start of every new week. Also, Bulma would never again be allowed to train for less than five hours with him on any given day - unless of course he felt the circumstances deemed otherwise, and she knew there'd be a fat chance of that. Finally, if ever he heard any manner of complaints from Bulma, she could always expect harsher exercises, and more of them at that. Not only that, but he'd also throw a higher level of gravity into the bargain, being the benevolent instructor that he was. Suffice it to say that Bulma was _very_ exhausted at the end of each training session she spent with him.

Vegita's training was harsh, brutal, and really quite terrible, but for some reason unknown to Bulma, it wasn't entirely unbearable. She soon discovered as the weeks went by that although each day with Vegita introduced her to a new incredible level of pain and torture, she always left him with the eerie confidence that she could have withstood just a little more. It confused her, because she would have expected him to exhaust her to the point of collapse, but instead he always seemed to stop her just at the brink, leaving her just enough energy to trudge home to bed.

It could by no means have been claimed that Vegita held back on her more than he should have, or even any more than he'd intended. He was firm and unwavering about anything and everything pertaining to Bulma's training. He never hesitated to push her harder than usual, nor did he bat an eye at extending her sessions with him a half-hour or so from time to time. There really was no set ending time for their sessions, but he always managed to make sure she was nearly dead on her feet before he let her go. In any event, they never stopped until _he_ thought it was time. Oddly enough, Bulma didn't really have much of a problem with that. For one thing, she was usually far too exhausted to complain if he went a little longer than she expected anyway, so it really didn't make that much of a difference to her. Besides, she _was_ always able to walk away from it afterwards, so she figured that, considering who was training her, she probably had no room for complaints. He could have been far worse than that, after all.

She was learning to adapt, and in more ways than one. Perhaps the greatest visible change, at least right away, was her change in appearance. Bulma had discovered after only a few sessions that her trusty training gi was not suited for such intense gravity training. Truth be told, it was bulkier and heavier than she liked, and the way it clung to her when she was drenched with sweat was not a pleasant sensation. She began to understand more fully just why Vegita dropped the shirt as soon as he entered the gravity room. She didn't exactly have the same option available to her, but nevertheless she decided it was time to retire her old look, at least for training purposes. She opted for a gymnastics-style leotard over a pair of bike shorts, as the lightness and stretchiness of the fabric allowed for better freedom of movement, while at the same time didn't weigh her down or soak too badly with sweat. An unfortunate side effect was that she had to put up with a couple of decidedly interested looks from Vegita when he first saw her in her new ensemble. However, she told him very bluntly that if seeing her figure distracted him that much, she would have been happy to go back to her old gi. He quickly recovered himself enough to jeer at her for spouting nonsense when she should have been stretching.

By about the second week, Bulma had finally begun to settle in and grow accustomed to this harsh pattern of events. It wasn't until she found her rhythm that she was able to pay more attention to details other than Vegita's merciless thrashing, and she noticed a few things that she hadn't thus far - and probably never might have, had she not been spending so much time with Vegita.

It first struck her on the Friday of her second week. She had finished another long day of training and was just about to leave, but she stopped just three feet outside the door, having suddenly realized that she was standing on the grass in her bare feet. She was especially tired today, and it didn't really surprise her that she had forgotten to put her shoes back on before leaving the gravity room.

"Hey, wait a minute," she said, turning around and starting back up the steps. Vegita opened the door again and looked at her impatiently. "I left my shoes in there," she explained, pointing under one of the benches behind him. Rolling his eyes, he stepped aside and let her in.

She walked in past him - a little stiffly of course - and grabbed her shoes out from under the bench. She looked up and caught him staring at her from the doorway. Their eyes met, and having realized that he'd been watching her bend over, Bulma felt her face flush a little in angry embarrassment. Despite her sudden discomfort and awkwardness, she just then realized something that had eluded her in the previous couple of weeks. Vegita didn't seem as frightening to her anymore. It wasn't necessarily that she was getting used to him or anything - she dismissed that almost immediately. No, it seemed more like he was changing somehow. She wasn't sure why, but that gaze of his was much less fierce and intimidating than she had remembered. She couldn't figure out why, but she was too uncomfortable to try to work it out now. She lowered her eyes to avoid his, and she shuffled nervously past him and out the door.

"See you tomorrow, Vegita," she said stiffly, glancing nervously at him on the way out.

Vegita gave a rather quiet grunt of agreement and shut the door behind her. Bulma let out a sigh and, still clutching her shoes to her chest, she began walking slowly toward the house, her mind in a swirl of confusion. Just what the heck was going on here, anyway? She didn't know how or why it had happened, but Vegita had somehow changed without her noticing it. Now that she thought about it, he wasn't nearly as belligerent and obnoxious as he had been a few weeks ago, and the calm, almost docile way he had looked at her just now was definitely a drastic change, to say the least. He didn't have that same intense, hungry look in his eyes much at all anymore, and perhaps because of that, she didn't mind being around him as much.

Bulma didn't know what to make of it. Maybe his training was beginning to get to him. Yeah, that had to be it, she thought shakily, wiping some sweat off her forehead and shaking her head wearily. The way he was pushing her was nothing compared to the agony he was putting himself through every day. Perhaps he seemed so subdued all of the sudden because he was just plain wearing himself out. Sighing again, she walked slowly and stiffly the rest of the way to the house, her shoes still clutched tightly to her chest. She had completely forgotten about her bare feet.

As the week slowly passed by, Bulma began to observe Vegita a little more closely than she had before, and she came to a conclusion. She had been right about one thing. Vegita _did_ seem gentler than usual, but she admittedly had to look hard to find that out. Gentler or not, Vegita was anything _but_ when it came to her training. He didn't let up on her a bit, no matter which way she looked at it, and it was for this reason - as confusing as it may sound - that she found herself slowly beginning to relax around him.

Of course, she wasn't relaxed in the normal sense of the word. It was hard to be relaxed when you were getting the crap beaten out of you for hours on end. No; it was a different kind of peace that was coming to her - slowly but surely. Her fear of him was leaving her. No matter how she contemplated it, she could see nothing wrong with that - in and of itself. Vegita, as far as she was concerned, had proven that his intentions were indeed honorable ones. He was determined to train her fiercely, and there was now little doubt in her mind that he really was on the level about it; it was definitely for real. She knew that he must still have had feelings for her, but when it came to her training, it was all business. For that reason, she slowly began to lower her guard around him and "relax."

About the only thing that bothered Bulma about her training with Vegita nowadays was that she was unable to see how his methods were really all that effective. As far as she could tell, all that he did was knock her around for a few hours in high gravity. She was never physically capable of hitting him back, and blocking his blows was just as much out of the question. It was just beyond her how letting him give her a fresh set of bruises every day was a beneficial method of training. The only benefit she could think of that it might give her would have been a higher tolerance for pain, because all she seemed to gain from each session was just that - constant, biting pain in every joint, muscle, and bone in her body. She wasn't one to give up easily, though, and she figured that Vegita wouldn't have survived life as one of Freeza's cronies if he hadn't known an effective way to train.

Although there were times when she was sure he was going to run her into the ground with all these brutal training sessions of his, she somehow managed to survive each one, and unbeknownst to her, the truth of it was that she was making astounding progress. It wasn't until the last day of her third week - the last day of her 90-g week - that she finally learned just how effective Vegita's methods were proving to be.

The day started out the same as usual. Bulma got up, ate a light breakfast, and did some tough stretches to work out the stiffness and soreness that had settled in her limbs during the night. Then she trotted out to the gravity room, prepared to face her final harsh day of 90 g's. Vegita's training was indescribably painful and brutal, but she was a stubborn person, and she had a great deal of pride in a few facets of her life – one of the greatest of which being her training. She wouldn't have quit for anything now – no matter what Vegita did or said to make those sessions her own little slices of hell each day.

That was certainly no exaggeration, either. Vegita was indeed more than brutal with her, and none would ever have guessed that he felt anything but loathing for her, had they been able to witness the way he constantly insulted her and pelted her bruised and wearied body with painfully harsh slaps, punches, kicks, knocks, and any other kind of physical attack imaginable. In fact, Bulma's "training" would have seemed more to the outside observer to be nothing but a veritable masochistic fantasy. She never once was able to hit him back, and it was indeed rare for her to be able to block any of what he was throwing at her.

Nevertheless, she survived each of these horrific sessions, and she never once gave serious thought to the idea of giving up. She looked at each day she successfully survived in there as being a victory over Vegita, or more to the point, a victory over his apparently low opinion of her strength and abilities. It was a strange way of looking at things, but it would have been even stranger if she had known just how wrongly she had guessed his thoughts about the matter. Whatever the case, this was the reason she got out of bed every morning to go out and be pummeled all over again. That was what was on her mind yet again today. It was all the same as it was every day, but unbeknownst to her, today was going to be entirely different. Today she was going to discover something that would change her mind forever about the true value of Vegita's training.

Things started out as usual when she stepped into the gravity room and shut the door behind her. Vegita asked the same snide and obnoxious question he always did - whether she was giving in to her weak human nature today and quitting, or if she was instead going to make another one of her pathetic efforts to improve at his expense. Then Bulma did the same thing she always did in return. She shot him an obscene hand gesture and told him to shut the hell up and turn the machine on. Smirking, Vegita turned around and went over to the control panel to turn on the power. This was where the changes began. Instead of setting the machine for ninety, he set it for eighty. He turned around and leaned casually against the control panel, crossing his arms and smirking at Bulma as a look of surprise and bewilderment spread over her face.

"We'll be doing something a bit different today," he said, ignoring the confused look on her face, but not entirely removing the smirk from his. "This session is going to consist solely of sparring exercises. Do you have any objections?"

Bulma, under normal circumstances, would have shot him another obscene gesture. She would have realized immediately that if she did have any objections, it would have been wisest to keep them to herself. Vegita always made it that much harder on her if she dared to voice any complaints. On this occasion though, she was too confused and surprised to worry about objections.

"I don't know what's going on here," she said, looking at herself a bit and scratching her head. "Something's off, somehow. I'm not nearly as strained as I ought to be. I can actually move around!" She did a couple of light somersaults for emphasis. Then she turned back around, frowned, and crossed her arms. "Something must be wrong with the machine, I think," she said, looking past Vegita at it. "That must be it. You broke it, didn't you?" She folded her arms and glared sternly at him. "You're too careless with this stuff, Vegita. You've broken the machine, thrown it off, or God knows what else. This doesn't feel like any 90 g's to me."

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "There's nothing wrong with my machine, you dimwitted fool. If you had half a brain, you'd have figured out by now that it _isn't_ 90 g's." He then stepped aside so that she could see the setting for herself.

Bulma gawked in astonishment at the little yellow numbers on the panel. "Impossible," she breathed. "There's no way I could be this comfortable in eighty g's after only three weeks of training!"

"There is if it's _my_ training," Vegita said smugly. "Do you doubt me now, you silly girl?"

A rush of total euphoria had just bombarded Bulma's mind, and all of her restraint and good sense went entirely out the window. In a fit of frenzied joy, she launched herself at Vegita and gave him a great big hug around the neck. "I can't believe it!" she laughed as he stumbled to keep from falling over in his surprise. "It would have taken me _months_ to get this far on my own! You're amazing, Vegita!" In a flush of wild excitement, she did something unthinkable. She swung around in front of him, and with her arms still wrapped tightly around his neck, she pulled his face to her own and gave him a great big kiss right on the lips.

Vegita was so astonished by her sudden, aggressive move that he didn't even react at all until Bulma, finally realizing what she was doing, jumped back away from him and gasped loudly, utterly mortified by what she had just done. She backed herself all the way up against the opposite wall as much of the color drained out of her complexion.

"Oh my God!" she cried, covering her mouth with one hand, her pallid face doing an about face as it suddenly began to turn crimson. "I - I didn't think! It was an accident! It wasn't...! I didn't...! Oh, Vegita, I'm so sorry!"

She didn't know what to do with herself. Her first impulse was to make a break for it, but he was between her and the gravity machine, and she wasn't thinking clearly enough to simply use teleportation. She couldn't even look him in the face for her embarrassment, so she simply sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands. She wanted to shrink in size until she disappeared entirely.

"I'm such a moron!" she said in a fierce hissing whisper. "Why the hell did I have to do something so stupid?!" The words had come out before she had taken the time to think about them, but as soon as they had left her lips, Bulma knew just how terrible they must have sounded to someone in Vegita's position. She was so angry with herself at this point that she wasn't even able to cry. She just crouched as low as she could push herself down, her face still buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking with emotion.

Vegita didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do about this. He couldn't ever remember feeling so awkward, and he was unaccustomed to the sensation. He didn't let it get the better of him for long, though. After a few moments of hesitation, he cautiously walked up to her and knelt down in front of her. Then he set his jaw, grabbed her gently by her shoulders, and lifted her firmly but gently to her feet.

"I'm so sorry, Vegita," Bulma said again, not removing her hands from her face as she shook her head and began to lose control of her emotions. "When I said stupid, what I really meant... It's just that I hadn't intended... Well, you know... It's just..."

"Enough," he said in a quiet, reproachful voice. "Apologies are a sign of weakness, so stop making them. I'm well aware that it was no more than a spontaneous act of excitement. I'm not angry, if that's what you're worried about." He then let her go without another word, walked over to the gravity machine, and folded his arms. He didn't turn back around.

A pained expression spread across Bulma's face. That hadn't been what she had expected him to say, and quite frankly, it hadn't been what she'd wanted him to say, either. She would have much more preferred him to yell at her, or at the very least tease her. She hadn't missed the hint of disappointment in his voice, either. She was terribly afraid that she'd hurt his feelings. Vegita didn't show any kind of emotion to anyone, but even so, she had spent enough time around him lately to feel pretty sure that her fear was justified. Under normal circumstances, Vegita would _never_ have missed an opportunity to make fun of her when she had made a fool of herself. She had crossed a line by a very wide margin, and she knew it.

Bulma lowered her eyes in shame. What could she say to him? She knew that nothing she could say now was going to take either that kiss or the thoughtless words she'd said back, and she didn't trust herself not to say anything else to make matters even worse. This was terrible. Vegita might not even forgive her. A terrible thought suddenly occurred to her, and her head shot up as it hit her. Maybe he wouldn't even want her around any more. Maybe he wouldn't want to train her. The thought struck a note of panic in her mind, and she drew in her breath sharply. Granted, she could train on her own, but for some reason, the prospect of losing Vegita's training had suddenly made her very fearful and panicky. She didn't know why that was, but she did know that she was willing to try anything to make sure he didn't kick her out.

"Y-you still want me to train with you... right, Vegita?" she asked, dreadfully afraid he would say no, but determined to find out for certain.

He turned around then, and the look on his face wasn't at all what she had expected to see there. She saw a look of mild amusement hidden beneath a mask of scornful disdain. Her heart gave a leap as she saw a fragile glint of hope that he might not really be as hurt as she thought he'd be.

"Don't hold your breath," he snorted at her. "If you think for a moment that such a pathetic excuse for a kiss was enough of a bribe to let you off the hook, then perhaps you've been hit a little too hard on the head. We will be continuing as planned. You have a problem with that?" he asked her with a wicked sneer.

Although she would never have dared express the extent of her relief in words to him, Bulma couldn't help but smile happily. _That_ was the Vegita she knew. Bulma found it tremendously comforting to see him back to "normal," at least in the Vegita sense, anyway. For a brief but terrible moment, Bulma had gotten the impression that she had done something irreversible, and it was more than just a little reassuring to have him back to his usual obnoxious self.

She realized immediately that she was going to have to be very careful from now on. She was overjoyed that she had been able to improve so much in such a short amount of time, but she had let it go to her head, and she had completely acted out of line. She made herself a promise that she was never going to allow that to happen again. Whatever happened, she was going to have to do her best not to act so irrationally around Vegita. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea, but even more importantly, she didn't want to risk the possibility that she might do something so cruel to him again. Thankfully though, now was no time to dwell on that. She had training to do!

When she didn't offer a reply to his derisive comment, Vegita smirked and folded his arms again, taunting her with his lack of a defensive stance. "Whenever you're ready, weakling," he shot at her.

Bulma smiled happily and poised herself to strike. "I'm ready," she said. "Let's go!" For the next five and a half hours she did her best to attack Vegita, while he blocked each effort with ease, all the while shouting vicious criticisms and insults at her with every move she made. Bulma had been a little hasty in referring to the day's level of gravity as being "comfortable." It only took a quarter of an hour for her to be drenched in sweat and panting like a dog. She wasn't the only one on the offensive, either. She had thought at first that they were just going to work on her offense today, but that idea was as far from the truth as it could have been. Vegita found plenty of opportunities to attack her in return, and while none of hers hit their marks, all of Vegita's did. All the same, it was quite easily the most enjoyable session Bulma had ever had with him. She'd never had any real chance to strike back at him before, and for some reason he was going reasonably easy on the counterattacks today. Perhaps this was his way of giving her a break. She didn't get any days off, after all. Still, she had a feeling that days like this were going to be few and far between.

She left the gravity room that afternoon sore and tired, but strangely happy. She paused as she stepped down from the door, and she turned around, looking up at Vegita with a shy but warm smile. "Vegita," she said, causing him to hesitate before closing the door behind her.

"What is it?" he asked gruffly, a tinge of impatience present in his voice.

"Um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry again," she said, shuffling her feet sheepishly and looking down at the grass in embarrassment. But she looked up again quickly, and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. "And thank you, for... well, for everything."

Vegita's mouth was a little agape at first, but he didn't lose his composure for long. "Tch," he snorted, waving her away. "Don't waste my time with your apologies. I've already told you I'm not angry, haven't I? As for thanking me," he added, looking scornfully at her over his crossed arms, "you might want to wait until after you've discovered what I have in store for you tomorrow to share such a simpering sentiment. Today was a walk in the park compared to the miseries you've got waiting for you in the near future, my ignorant little fool. Now go away and let me train in peace! I can't get any work done while you're here hindering me with your useless chatter."

Bulma just smiled and shook her head. "Whatever, Vegita," she chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good night... Vegita-sensei." she said, turning around and shaking her head again. The word seemed a strange way to address him, although after today, she had decided beyond all doubt that he had earned the title.

Vegita remained in the doorway, watching in astonishment as she hobbled off toward the house. It was only after one thirty, but since they wouldn't see each other again until the next morning, it was customary for her to leave him with a "good night" each day. His face looked a little redder than usual as he hesitated for a few moments longer and his scowl softened a bit. "Good night," he said quietly, when he was certain she had gone far beyond earshot. He then quickly stepped back inside the gravity room and closed the door.

- - - - -

Bulma walked into the house and sat wearily down at the table. "Man, I'm pooped!" she groaned, wiping some of the sweat off of her face. Her mother came in and smiled warmly at her.

"Another successful day, I see!" she said brightly. Bulma laughed.

"You have no idea," she chuckled. "Could you do me a favor and get me a great big glass of grapefruit juice, Mom? I'm so thirsty I could drink a river!"

Mrs. Briefs laughed and went to the fridge to get her daughter what she'd asked for. "Oh, by the way," she said, setting the carton on the counter and opening the cupboard for a glass. "Yamucha went to visit Kuririn today. He said he wouldn't be back until late tonight. He asked me to tell you that he was sorry, but he wouldn't be here for his sparring match with you."

"Oh, really?" Bulma said, kind of disappointed. She was really anxious to show him just how far she'd gotten, now that she knew. "That's too bad. I had something really good to show him."

"You could always go out to the Kame house and see him there," Mrs. Briefs commented, pouring her juice into a large glass. "I'm sure Kuririn wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, and neither would that old pervert, I'll bet," Bulma grumbled, scowling crossly. She didn't know how he did it, but no matter how strong she became, that man always managed to sneak up on her long enough cop a feel every time she saw him. It baffled her to no end, and it made her terrifically angry. No matter how many times she knocked him clear across the island or even far out into the ocean, he never seemed to let up on her. The man was a master all right - a master pervert. There was no way she wanted to go out there today. She was _not_ in the mood to guard herself from him or his antics.

"No," she said, accepting the glass of juice her mom handed her. "I don't want to. Not if that old letch hangs around, I don't. I don't want to hang around here all day, either. It's Dad's day off, and he's just going to be reading his magazines or something, so I don't want to hang around the workshop. I guess I'll just have to find something else to do."

"Why don't you go visit Goku and Gohan, then?" Mrs. Briefs said, sitting down across the table from her and smiling. "It's been a good couple of months since you saw either of them, and I bet they wouldn't mind if you popped in and said hello. What do you think?"

"Hey, that's an idea!" Bulma cried, beaming at her. "That's a great idea! Ooh, but if I do that, I'll have to bring some diversionary material. Those three will be out there in the mountains training, and I'll want to have a good bribe for interrupting them..."

"Three?" Mrs. Briefs said, raising an eyebrow. "Who's the third?"

"Piccolo," Bulma said, looking back at her mother and frowning. "They're all training together to prepare for what's to come. I think I know what I'm going to do. I'll need your help, though."

"Really?" Mrs. Briefs cried in delight. "With what? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to prepare a picnic lunch for them," Bulma laughed, standing up and planting her fists on her hips. "A lunch fit for a couple of Saiyans, Mom! Since my cooking skills leave a lot to be desired, I was hoping you could give me a hand."

"You've got it!" Mrs. Briefs cried. "Let's get to it then! It's already two o'clock. It'll be dinner time if you wait too long!"

They worked together to make a lunch big enough for two healthy Saiyans and one Namek. They packed in over fifty pounds of fresh food of all kinds for Goku and Gohan, and they stuffed in a few ice-cold bottles of spring water for Piccolo. The food took a long while to prepare, but Bulma's mother was so used to Vegita and his eating habits by now that it could have taken much longer than it did. At any rate, after about an hour and a half, Bulma set out for Mt. Paozu with her large cooler strapped to her back. She waved good-bye to her mom and flew off at a terrific pace.

It only took her a quarter of an hour to get there at such high speed, but remarkably enough, she wasn't the least bit tired when she did. It surprised her a great deal. Perhaps this was yet another happy side effect of Vegita's training. She grinned as she tracked the boys down with her chi sense, until she finally located them on one of the highest mountains - up atop the snowy cap. She could hear them clashing up there long before she finally reached them, and she had to strain her eyes to find them at first. They were definitely way out of her league; that much was obvious. Even Gohan was moving too quickly for her to keep up with his activity.

She was considering teleporting in to surprise them, but she never got the chance. They must've sensed her, because they all promptly stopped what they were doing and looked down at her.

"Hey! Bulma!" Goku cried, waving and flying down to her, with Gohan and Piccolo following close behind. "Wow, it's great to see you! What's up? You decide to come for a sparring match or two?"

Bulma laughed. "Maybe in a little while," she said with a grin. "But first, let's take care of this." She patted the cooler and grinned some more. "My mom and I packed a nice lunch in here. You guys hungry?" She pretended not to know the answer to that one.

Goku's and Gohan's eyes lit up with delight as they looked at the enormous cooler. "Boy, am I ever!" Goku exclaimed, rushing forward. "Here, Bulma, let me help you with that!"

"Whoa! Hey!" she cried, dodging him and laughing. "Geez, Goku, calm down! Come on; there's a good spot down there at the foot of the mountain. Let's sit down for a little while and make a picnic out of it."

Piccolo's expression hardened. Bulma smiled at him in understanding. She knew the Namek probably viewed picnics as a waste of time better spent training, but she wouldn't be persuaded to just let the boys gobble it up in midair. "It won't take too long; I promise," she said to him reassuringly. "I'm sure you've seen how quickly these two can eat by now," she added, jerking her thumb in Goku's and Gohan's direction. Piccolo gave a light harrumph, but he nevertheless followed the other two down after her. He must have supposed she had a point.

They flew down to the little valley just past the mountain's edge, and they settled down in a small clearing set among some large, healthy maple trees. Bulma spread the blanket she'd packed out on the ground and unpacked all of the food in the cooler - which Goku and Gohan devoured almost as quickly as she could set it down. She tossed Piccolo a couple of the water bottles and took one for herself as the boys made quick work of what was left of the food.

"So how goes the training?" she asked them, resting comfortably under the shade of the maples. "You guys feel pretty far along. I couldn't even keep up with you when I interrupted you earlier."

"Mmgff... we've been... gmph... training every day," Gohan said between mouthfuls. "Dad and Piccolo-san are really working hard, and they're helping me a lot too."

"You must not be taking much time out for picnics," Piccolo said, raising an eyebrow at her. "You certainly don't look like you did in our last encounter, and your power has increased noticeably. I gather you've been in training too."

"That's an understatement," she laughed. "Yeah, I was training on my own for a while, but apparently that wasn't good enough for a certain loud-mouthed Saiyan. Vegita's got me training with him now. I have to tell you, it's a lot rougher than anything I ever would have put myself through alone."

"Huh?" Goku gasped, nearly choking on the last of the ham. "Vegita's training you?"

"Yeah, I know," Bulma said, nodding and laughing at their astonished expressions. "It sounds pretty weird, doesn't it? I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled about the idea either when he brought it up, but I don't have any regrets yet. He may be an asshole, but the guy knows what he's doing. I've gone farther than I'd ever dreamed possible already. I'm so comfortable in eighty g's now that I think if Rikuum were still alive today, I'd probably have a decent chance of beating him."

"Wow," Gohan said in amazement. "What's Vegita's kind of training like? Is it really bad?"

"It's like Hell on Earth sometimes," she chuckled, leaning back on her hands and looking up at the sky, "but it's damned effective. I imagine you went through something similar when Piccolo trained you before Vegita and Nappa first arrived, Gohan."

"So what do you think of Vegita?" Goku asked, keeping a remarkably straight face as he asked her.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bulma asked in surprise. His question had caught her off guard. "What kind of question is that?"

"Well, what's it like to be around him?" Goku said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, it must not be all that bad, if you're actually willing to let him train you!" He laughed again, despite the sudden, sharp glare of disgust that Piccolo had shot him.

"He's a pain in the neck most of the time," Bulma said with a slight frown, crossing her arms. "He's obnoxious and argumentative, and by far the bossiest person I've ever encountered in my life. If I didn't worry about the effects it would have on the human race, I'd have kicked him out a long time ago. But," she added, looking down thoughtfully. "I suppose it could be worse. He seems to have calmed down a little, if you can believe it. He's not nearly as belligerent or destructive as he used to be. I think he's developed a good deal of self-control. At times, he can even seem kind of... gentle."

She looked back up, and she found that they were gaping at her as if she'd suddenly transformed into some kind of grotesque, hideous monster. She realized what she had said, and she laughed loudly, trying to fend off her own embarrassment. "Well, I guess not really _gentle_," she laughed nervously, "but maybe not as violent as before. I don't know! You'll just have to see for yourselves when you see him again!" She had grown fairly red in the face, despite herself, and she looked down and pretended to study her bottle of water as an excuse to avert her eyes from them. She didn't know what kind of demented part of her brain _that_ comment had come from. Calling Vegita gentle was like calling a baby rabbit ferocious. It was no wonder they had stared at her like that.

Goku shot a grin at Piccolo, who just shook his head at him and grit his teeth angrily. Goku would not be stifled so easily. He gave a hearty laugh or two of his own and grinned shamelessly at Bulma. "What do you suppose could change the man so much?" he said loudly. "I figured Vegita hated everything about us. D'you think that's not really true anymore?" he asked her eagerly.

Bulma had begun to wonder why Goku was suddenly taking such an active interest in Vegita's moods, and where all these strange questions were coming from. "Well, I... um... that is, I mean... I don't know. Why are you asking me, anyway?" She had become rather flustered, and she snapped the last bit at him impatiently. "Geez, what's with the twenty questions, Goku? Why the hell do you think I'd know what goes on in that psycho's twisted brain? Maybe it's like Yamucha insists, and it's just a calm before the storm. Who knows? All I know is that I don't care what that spiky-haired jerk has on his mind at this point. Just as long as he's stopped being so destructive, I'm satisfied enough. He's still a jerk and a real pain in the neck, but at least he's a bit bearable. Let's just leave it at that and forget about him. Okay?" She glared at him, and he put up his hands and laughed good-naturedly.

"Okay, Bulma, you've made your point!" he laughed merrily. "That's fine. We'll drop it. We'll just forget he even exists, if you want!"

"I'd like that just fine," Bulma snapped, closing her eyes and scowling. Goku grinned at Piccolo again, and it was all the Namek could do to keep from getting up and walking away. His disgust at Goku's obvious lack of tact in asking such ridiculous questions was more than obvious.

"So what else is up at your house, Bulma?" Gohan asked, not quite understanding Goku's interest in Vegita either, but dismissing it as another one of his father's good-natured fancies. "Anything especially interesting you have to tell us? We don't get much news out here, you know!" he laughed as he waved at the wilderness about them.

Bulma opened her eyes and her expression became rather serious. "Well, I guess there is something," she muttered, suddenly remembering the conversation she'd had with her father yesterday, "but I'm probably wasting my time telling you."

"What is it?" Goku said, suddenly curious. He didn't know what to make of Bulma's suddenly serious expression. Even Piccolo's eyes opened a bit more with interest. There was something about Bulma's voice that didn't fit in with a casual picnic, and he was curious too.

Bulma sighed. "Well, I didn't think anything would come of it, and even if something did, I didn't know what I'd do about it, but at any rate, it's been done, and something _has_ come of it."

"Huh?" Goku said with a puzzled frown. "I don't get what you're saying, Bulma. What has been done?"

"I'm getting to it, Goku," Bulma said with an almost irritated tone of voice. "Well, after I got back home from the fight with Freeza, I asked my dad to see if he could dig up any info on Dr. Gero - anything he could find. It's always been my policy to find out as much as possible about a future problem before I tackle it, and I figured that since this enemy was home-grown, we might be able to learn a bit about him before we actually had to fight his creations. Anyway, Dad did manage to find a small article about Gero in one of his old scientific journals, and it had a few bits of information that might be of use, or they might not. That's up to you, I suppose."

"What kind of information?" Goku asked, his face adopting a more serious expression too, now that he knew the nature of Bulma's news.

"I may now know the area where he's holed himself up," she explained. "The article only had conjecture in it, but it was right on the money about everything else it guessed. It made mention about Gero's creation of humanlike artificial intelligence, for one thing."

Goku shot her a blank look. Bulma sighed. "It means they had gotten wind that he was creating artificial intelligence similar to that of humans, Goku. In other words, he had created artificial humans - Jinzouningen. Ring a bell?"

"Ooooh..." Goku said, nodding as he finally understood. "So you think they might have figured out where Gero hid his lab too?"

"It's possible," she said, looking thoughtfully at her water bottle. "I haven't checked it out, of course. That would be stupid. I haven't told anyone else about it either. Only Dad, you guys, and I know about this. I wanted to tell you first, Goku. What do you think? Should we at least look into it? I didn't want to go because I was afraid I'd end up in over my head if I did manage to discover Gero's lab, but if I had you, or Piccolo, or even Gohan with me, I'd feel a lot better." She straightened up and stared resolutely at him. "I know you wanted for all of us to just train and prepare as best as we could for them, Goku, but this is an opportunity I thought we couldn't just ignore."

Goku didn't hesitate with his answer. "I'm still going with what I said earlier, Bulma," he said, smiling at her in understanding. "I know you wouldn't have brought this up if you hadn't thought it was important, but I think you should just forget about it. We wouldn't be able to do anything if we did find that lab. I stand by my decision about killing Gero. Finding his lab wouldn't accomplish anything if we just went there to parley with him. I don't think he'd listen to reason."

"Well think of this, then," Bulma said, making one last-ditch effort to salvage what she thought could be their only hope. "Remember what that kid said about Gero's future? Remember that his creatures would end up being his own destruction too? How about that? You want that to happen? They'll have killed him long before they appear to wreak havoc on that poor city. If you want to be a pacifist about this, you have to consider what pacifism in this case is going to accomplish."

Goku's eyes opened wide. "Gee, Bulma, I hadn't even considered that," he said, gasping in amazement. "I'd completely forgotten! If what that kid said is true, Gero _is_ going to die in a couple of years!"

Bulma smiled in triumph. "So you see, we can't just stand by and wait," she said, going in for the kill. "At the very least we have to try to talk him out of this madness - for his own good, as well as the rest of the world's."

Goku frowned, he scratched his head, and he got up and paced for a while. Bulma could tell that he was really conflicted about this. Finally he just sighed and sat back down.

"Bulma," he said, shaking his head and sighing again. "It's no good. I really don't think he'll listen - certainly not to me. I think that a failed attempt may be more disastrous than not trying at all. Think about it! If we go and try to make him listen to reason, and he refuses, we throw everything away. One, there's the fact that he's not expecting us to prepare for him. Two, we won't know when he'll release his Jinzouningen if he knows that we know. He may set 'em loose early, or later. There's no way of telling. Besides, suppose he already has them built. I'd rather take them on after a few years of training instead of now. I'm strong, but I can be even stronger."

"The same goes for me," Gohan said, nodding gravely. "I agree with Dad, Bulma. I don't think Gero would listen to us even if we told him everything. If the guy's so eaten up with the idea of revenge that he would take such extreme measures, no amount of good sense would get through to him."

"I suppose you're right," Bulma sighed, shrugging and offering a smile of defeat. "Even I can't argue with those points. I guess I'll just have to leave it alone after all. It really was a waste of time to bring it up."

"Nah, you had a good point," Goku said, waving it away. "Besides, bringing it up with others before acting on it was a really smart thing. I'm glad you didn't decide to check it out on your own."

"Like I said, that would have been stupid," Bulma said, shooting him a proud grin, "and I'm a lot of things, Goku, but I'm not stupid. Now," she said, getting up and pitching the half-empty bottle of water into the open, barren cooler. "How about those sparring matches you offered earlier? Are they still up for grabs? We've got a good couple of hours of daylight left, and I'm not going to let you get away with dismissing my idea without some kind of punishment!" With that, she shot up toward the mountaintop. Goku and Gohan grinned at each other before springing into the air after her.

Piccolo floated up a couple of feet and paused before heading up after them. Well, they probably weren't going to get much of a real workout tonight, but he supposed one idle evening wouldn't make too much of a difference. He had been looking thoughtfully at the disheveled picnic site and contemplating this thought with a disapproving frown, when all at once he heard a disturbance in the air as it whistled toward him, and he simultaneously felt a jolt of chi from up above. An attack was coming!

He instantly jerked one arm upward, palm outward, to shield himself from the oncoming projectile, but instead of blocking a chi blast as he had expected, he found himself on the receiving end of a large, hard-flung snowball - about the size of a man's head. It slammed into his hand and disintegrated when it hit - covering one side of him completely with snow. His keen eyes immediately shot upwards to discover the culprit of this indignity, fully suspecting that he'd find Gohan up there, laughing and tensing himself for whatever retaliation he would bring him. However, it was Bulma whom he saw, loaded with snowballs in both hands, and flinging them at Goku and Gohan already. She must have teleported ahead of them and built up the snowball artillery before letting time flow again.

"Come on, you big snail!" she called down to him, hurling another snowball at him. "The sun isn't going to stand still while you dawdle, Piccolo!"

Smirking as he thought of the look of horror she'd be wearing when he made her eat her words, he shot up and out of the way of the icy projectile, powering up his chi as he went. When he had come up to be level with the rest of them, he concentrated all his telekinetic powers on the mountaintop, and pretty soon he was quite visibly working hard at something. Bulma and the others stopped what they were doing to watch him in curiosity and awe as, slowly but quite perceptibly, Piccolo caused all the snow on the western face of the mountain to shift slightly. Then he intensified his chi even more, yelling with the effort, and suddenly, all of that snow actually floated off of the mountain and into the air! Bulma, Goku, and Gohan simply watched in amazement as Piccolo levitated the enormous mass of snow up higher and higher into the air, until it was about fifty feet above them. Suddenly Bulma caught on to what was happening.

"Oh no!" she cried, trying to fly away, but slamming into Gohan in her panic. It was too late. With a mighty roar and a tremendous jolt in chi power, Piccolo slammed the entire bulk of that snow down upon Bulma and the Son men. Although they all thought to use chi power to heat things up around them as Piccolo's frozen retaliation swallowed them up, it wasn't before each one was covered and slammed downward a few hundred feet. They each emerged from the top of the white mess very much unhurt, but very much drenched. Piccolo sneered down at the dripping, bedraggled antagonists below him, and Bulma, Gohan, and Goku glanced at each other before grinning and nodding. They had united for a common cause.

"Let's get him!" Gohan cried, dashing forward and leading the charge. Bulma and Goku, however, decided to be less direct about their attack. Goku went straight to his zanzouken - the split-second afterimage technique that Yamucha had told her about, but had been unable to teach her, as he'd never learned it himself. Undaunted, Bulma didn't focus on that. She had her own deviltry in mind for Piccolo!

In the blink of an eye, she had stopped time. Grinning mischievously, she flew around behind Piccolo and pushed her hands under his arms, and then she clamped them down just behind his neck - thus securing his arms from any useful movement. She made a quick note of where Gohan and Goku were - still a good way off, although Goku was really farther off to the side than anything. If he'd decided to charge head-on like Gohan, he would have reached Piccolo already. Keeping them both in mind, she finally resumed time's flow and held onto Piccolo as tightly as she could.

She'd caught the hapless Namek off guard, but she'd also done the same thing to the boys. They both immediately stopped to stare as Piccolo began to struggle to free himself from Bulma's hold on him.

"Well, what are you waiting for, you nitwits?" she hollered, trying to keep her arms from being jerked out of their sockets as Piccolo struggled violently against her. "You think I can hold onto him forever?! Come on!"

Goku laughed outright, but Gohan decided to make use of the opportunity that Bulma had provided him. He let out a terrific war cry and charged at them. This time Goku followed suit, but things didn't go quite as Bulma – or they – had planned. Growling fiercely, Piccolo lurched forward one more time, and this time he was much too strong for Bulma to keep in check. Even so, she stubbornly held onto him anyway, and that had been a mistake - one that Piccolo had figured she would make. As the boys came within striking distance, Piccolo - with Bulma still in tow - did a quick somersault in midair. He went so fast that the force of the spin caused Bulma's legs to fly outward as they went, and each one of her feet clonked one of Piccolo's would-be assailants directly on the top of the head.

"Ow!" Gohan yelped as he was hurled downward.

"Oof!" Goku grunted, going down with him.

Piccolo stopped spinning and Bulma shook her head a bit to get rid of the dizziness. All the same, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at Piccolo's clever save.

"Gee, Piccolo, we make a nice team, don't we?" she laughed, letting go of his arms long enough to wrap hers around his neck and put him into a headlock. Piccolo smirked evilly.

"I quite agree," he said with a sneer. Bulma had made a mistake. Now that his arms were free, she was no longer out of his range. She realized it all too soon, but not soon enough to do anything about it. Piccolo grabbed each of her arms and flipped her over his head. Then he sent her crashing into Goku and Gohan, who were just making their way back up.

Undaunted, the three charged Piccolo as one, and this time, he had no other line of defense than hand-to-hand. He didn't seem to mind at all, though. He sneered as he dodged this way and that, easily avoiding Bulma's and Gohan's punches, but finding that he was having to work much harder to avoid Goku's.

"At least you've finally come to your senses and realized that you'd all have to attack at once to overpower me," he snorted, knocking Bulma and Gohan back and aiming a hard right at Goku's chin, which Goku just barely managed to dodge.

Goku leapt back a bit and laughed as Gohan and Bulma sailed back into the fray. "Maybe we're being a little unfair, though," he said with a grin. "It might be better to let those two take over for a little while. I'm sure it's rough on you with all three of us to consider."

Piccolo chuckled at the remarkably pointed dig that Goku had just made on him. "Don't get me wrong," he said, smirking as he once again knocked Gohan and Bulma aside. "It's nothing I can't handle."

Bulma and Gohan leapt back so that they were beside Goku again. "We'll see," Bulma said slyly, crossing her arms and grinning defiantly at him. She had begun speaking in Namekian. "It's time for round two, now, Piccolo. Perhaps we're no match for you, but Goku was holding back a lot. I say we let him try his hand alone."

"What did she say?" Goku said, bewildered. "I think I heard my name in there. Bulma, what language is that?"

Bulma laughed, suddenly realizing that Goku had never heard her use Namekian before. She was about to translate for him, but Piccolo answered for her.

"She says that she volunteers you to take me on alone," he explained with a wry smirk. "She thinks you were holding back on me."

"Yeah! Get 'im, Dad!" Gohan cried, laughing gleefully. "Avenge our honor an' stuff!"

Goku grinned and stretched his arms. Then he folded them behind his head. "Well, Pic, it looks like I'll have to take over their grudge match for them. Think you're up to it?"

Piccolo's only reply was to sneer and shoot a terrifically powerful chi blast at him, completely taking her and Gohan by surprise. They just barely managed to dart away as Goku blocked the blast and caused it to explode, and after breathing a sigh of relief, Bulma giggled. She'd rarely had such a great time sparring before! These guys were so much fun!

"Come on, Gohan!" she cried, striking a defensive stance and shooting him a challenging grin. "Let's see how much they've taught you!"

Gohan laughed and did the same. "I'm warning you," he said as he charged himself up. "They didn't go easy on me, and I won't go easy on you!"

"Okay," Bulma laughed. "We'll just see how much good Vegita's training has done me!"

As it turned out, she found Gohan to be a bit more of a match than he looked. Still, it was easier to spar with him than it was to spar with Piccolo, or Goku, for that matter. Those two didn't let up much on each other either, but in the end, it was Goku who won out. Bulma supposed that Nameks just didn't measure up to Saiyans. In any event, by the time Goku and Piccolo had finished their little go-round, the sun had already set. Gohan and Bulma had thoroughly worn themselves out by then, so they all decided it was a good idea to break for home. Bulma didn't mind as much as she thought she would. For once she was thinking responsibly. She knew she'd have a hard day of training with Vegita early tomorrow morning, and she was going to need her sleep. It was definitely time to go. The boys helped her pick up all the trash and load it into the cooler, and she strapped it back onto her back and got up to go.

"Bye, guys!" she said, giving Goku and Gohan big hugs. She managed to teleport a small one in on Piccolo afterward - much to his growling displeasure, but much to the amusement of his training partners. "I'd nearly forgotten how much I missed seeing you guys. I wish we could do this more often!"'

"You can, you know," Goku said with a big smile. "It wouldn't hurt nothin'."

"I'm not so sure," Bulma laughed, tucking a hand behind her head in embarrassment. "I'm gonna pay for this tomorrow, I think. I'm usually in bed for at least an hour by now," she added, frowning as she glanced at her watch. "I need a lot of sleep to recoup each day from Vegita's training sessions. I'll probably be dead on my feet tomorrow. He'll let me have it for sure!"

Goku grinned. "Sounds like he's really working you hard," he said.

"It's nothing I can't handle," Bulma said quickly, "and I could quit any time I wanted, but I wouldn't give that arrogant jerk the satisfaction!"

Goku laughed. "Still," he said. "It looks to me like he's doing a great job. I can already tell you're way stronger than you used to be, Bulma."

"You got that right," Gohan said, nodding in agreement. "She caught me off guard a lot, Dad. She's getting better, all right."

"That's really nice of you to say, guys," Bulma said with a faint smile, "but I have a feeling that when it comes down to it, no amount of training is going to do me any good. I can't really ignore the knowledge that I'm going to be outclassed no matter what I do. I'm not trying to be the best or anything; I just want to be good enough to survive... or at the very least," she added, looking down sadly, "good enough to keep out of your way."

Goku frowned at Piccolo, who grunted indifferently. "Bulma," Goku said, his expression having turned very serious indeed. "That's no way to talk and you know it. You never know how things will turn out, and you can't just assume the worst right away. If you do that, you'll be handing Gero's creations the victory before they even wake up."

"I know," she sighed. "Don't misunderstand me, Goku. I'm not giving up. I'm going to train the hardest I possibly can, and, good enough or not, I'm going to fight them as hard as I can. Just the same, I doubt that even you can tell me truthfully that you believe I'll be strong enough to defend myself from such creatures."

Goku sighed and shook his head. "All right, Bulma," he said finally. "Fine. I don't believe that you could defend yourself from them, but that's only if I think of you fighting them on your own. Things aren't as bad as you make them out to be. We're all in this together, and we'll need your help just as much as you'll need ours. Believe it or not, I believe in you. And you know what? I'll let you in on a little secret; I think Vegita does too."

"Vegita doesn't believe in anything but himself," Bulma said with a scowl. "I don't think he really expects me to follow through with this training of his, the way he's always acting as if I'm just dying to quit. For the life of me, I don't know why he's even wasting his time with it. All it's doing is taking time away from his training, after all."

"Think about what you're saying," Goku said with a broad smile. "Why would he be wasting his time, if he didn't think you were up to the challenge?"

Bulma didn't have anything to say to that. There was nothing she could say. "Maybe he just delights in tormenting me," she said finally, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know. The man's weird, Goku. But in any event, I'm not giving up. You can count on that."

"That's the spirit!" Goku exclaimed, slapping her on the back - and nearly knocking her over in the process. "Next time you come see us, you'll be so strong we won't even know it's you till we see you! Oh, and when that happens, maybe you could teach me that time teleport thingy of yours? I can't seem to get it to work, for some reason."

Bulma regained her balance and smiled back up at him. "Sure Goku," she said. "Any time."

She floated up into the air to leave, but paused as Goku called out to her again.

"And Bulma?" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning back around.

"Whatever it is you're doing to Vegita, keep it up, okay? From what you told us, it sounds like whatever you've done is changing him for the better!"

Bulma promptly turned scarlet, and Gohan looked first at her, and then at his father. He scratched his head in confusion. For Piccolo, however, it had been too much. Shaking his head in disgust, he flew off for the Son homestead ahead of Goku and Gohan, sending a curt nod of good-bye to Bulma as he left. Gohan waved good-bye too, and he promptly took off after Piccolo.

"I-I'm sure I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Goku," she said to him in a very flustered voice, and no less red in the face than before. "I haven't done anything to Vegita!"

Goku grinned obnoxiously. "If you say so, Bulma," he laughed. "See you later! Say hi to him for me!" Before she could say another word, he took off at tremendous speed after Piccolo and Gohan.

Bulma remained rooted in place for a good thirty seconds or so after Goku had disappeared over the mountains, but she eventually shook her head and smiled. What was she letting herself get so worked up for, anyway? Goku didn't know what the heck he was talking about. He was just teasing her. Sighing and shaking her head, she set out for home. If he only knew, she thought wearily to herself.

Bulma couldn't help but smile on the way back to Capsule Corporation. Things weren't so bad in her life, she decided. As she flew home slowly and with a good deal of fatigue, the peaceful smile on her face remained for the entire flight home.

It had been a strange, yet pleasant day.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: Passive Rebellion**

Bulma diligently continued her training with Vegita, and she continued to make steady progress. As the months wore on, she realized that there was just no getting used to the soreness and fatigue that built up in one's limbs during a hard day of training in the gravity room. Vegita hadn't been kidding. The day that he'd let her train in eighty g's _had_ been a walk in the park compared to what was to come afterwards. Things just kept getting harsher and harsher after that. Bulma was having considerable difficulty adjusting to the increased levels every week. Despite all Vegita's - and her - determined efforts to keep her improving at a steady pace, it was easy for Bulma to see that she was drawing ever closer to the point where her human limitations would kick in. As harsh and unwilling as Vegita always was to give her any excuses for weakness, even he must have been noticing it too. Despite all this, she was still making fair progress anyway, even if it was hard-won, and she never once let him hear her complain, no matter how traitorous the rest of her body may have been on the matter.

Four months had come and gone, and Bulma was entering her second week of 140g training. After she'd finished her first week of 120, Vegita had decided - with much scowling and glares of disapproval on his part - that he'd graciously allow her two weeks at each level now instead of one. Still, she failed to see how this would give her much undue comfort in the gravity room; she didn't know why he'd thought he had so much to scowl about. She had laughed at him just the same, telling him that he was getting soft, and that if he didn't watch it, he might just turn into a human! At this his face had all but turned an indignant shade of purple.

"How dare you suggest such a thing?!" he had demanded in an explosion of indignant rage. "I've killed for less than that, you ungrateful wench! There'll be harsher exercises today for that! Just be glad I'm in no mood to put up with your whining, or else I'd most definitely give you the day-long pounding you deserve!"

Bulma only shot him a grin and made a face at him. It seemed that more and more nowadays she loved getting him all worked up about silly things, even if it did usually mean a heavier workout in the end. That was one effect of a far greater change in Bulma's life than the increase in her strength. However incredible it was, it went totally unnoticed by Bulma. She just continued training, and she paid little attention to the fact that she was laughing and playing around a lot more with Vegita these days. True, he didn't really joke and fool around the way she did to him, but that didn't mean that he didn't egg her on. The truth was that he enjoyed pushing her buttons almost as much as she enjoyed pushing his - much as he made it appear that he was only being scornful and insulting.

In a weird sort of way, Bulma had discovered that she actually enjoyed his company. Sure, he was rude and obnoxious - not to mention unduly abrasive most of the time - but Bulma realized that training with Vegita was actually much more fun than training by herself. Truth be told, her past few months with him had greatly improved her disposition toward the gruff Saiyan man - even more than she realized. Her mother could see the true magnitude of the change that was taking place in Bulma's personality though, and although she didn't mention a word of it to anyone, leastwise to her daughter, she could frequently be seen smiling happily as she heard Bulma trotting eagerly out to the gravity room each morning.

Yamucha had noticed a change in Bulma too, but he hadn't put two and two together in the same way Mrs. Briefs had. All he could see was that Bulma seemed a lot happier these days, and although he still didn't altogether trust Vegita to behave himself, even he had to admit by now that this training of his was for real. It was producing such astounding results in Bulma, in fact, that at first, he honestly didn't believe her when she'd proudly announced one day that she had finally broken 100 g's. It wasn't until he snuck after her to the gravity room the next morning that he finally realized that she wasn't kidding. He turned on the one-way camera on the outside controls so he could sneak a peek at them, and his mouth dropped open in surprise at what he saw. They had the machine on at a whopping 105! True, Bulma wasn't moving too quickly in there, but it was easy to see that she really was in training.

A surge of guilt had overwhelmed him once he'd seen it for himself, but it was for a less honorable reason than doubting his best friend's word. It was instead because of the fact that he had only progressed to 55g's himself. That was barely more than half of what she was training at, and it made him feel so low that he spent the whole next day training furiously in his own gravity room, collapsing when he could do no more exercises, and causing both Bulma and her mother to worry a good deal about him. Even his guilt didn't last long, however. There was a definite reason why he hadn't improved as rapidly as Bulma, and it wasn't because Vegita wasn't training him, either. Rather, it was a psychological block that he had erected, much like the one that Bulma'd had in the beginning.

He felt that if these jinzouningen he'd heard so much about really were more powerful than that boy from the future - more powerful than _Freeza_ even - how on Earth could he hope to stand up to such a threat after _any_ length of time? He wasn't a Saiyan or a Namek, for Kami's sake! He was a human - a dwarf in the wake of giants like Goku, Vegita, Piccolo, or even Gohan, and now even his former pupil had surpassed him so much that he didn't have any more hope of catching up to her. _She_ wasn't going to survive an attack from these monsters, no matter how much she trained. He knew that, although she was really good, there was no way she'd get any better than Vegita, and even that kid had said that Vegita hadn't been a match for the jinzouningen.

How could he himself be expected to do something that even Bulma wouldn't be able to do? It just didn't make sense for him to kill himself with training if it wouldn't even make any difference in the end. Rather than put himself through the extremes that Bulma chose to endure, he simply trained at a fairly comfortable pace. He wasn't lazy or anything, but he saw no point in running himself into the ground, either. Despite the twinge of guilt he felt each time he noticed how quickly Bulma was outstripping him, he made no effort to speed things up.

All things considered, peace had once again made its home at Capsule Corporation. Bulma, Vegita, and Yamucha were tied up in their training; Dr. Briefs was busy running his corporation; and Mrs. Briefs had a heck of a time seeing to it that she, her husband, and three ravenous young fighters had enough food prepared at mealtimes to keep themselves satisfied. Each person had his or her own job to do, and each one pressed on without much complaint.

By the end of four months, however, Bulma was beginning to get tired. It wasn't the usual "dead-on-your-feet, nearly comatose, worn out after a training session" tired, however. This sort of weariness went a little deeper than that kind. This kind of lethargy was the result of an unchanging cycle of eating, sleeping, and training day in, day out, and seven days a week. Bulma knew that if she didn't take a break from this mind-numbing schedule soon, she was going to go nuts.

She also knew that Vegita was far worse off than she was, although one would never have known without being around the guy every day. He certainly wouldn't admit it, either to himself or to her, but she wasn't stupid. She could see all the same signs of deep weariness that she had found in herself. They both needed a break, and she was determined to see to it that they got one.

One morning, she set out for Vegita's gravity room with a resolute but rather troubled look on her face. She had the plan all worked out in her mind; she had made exceptions for all the contingencies, and she felt that she was ready for any possible obstacle she might find herself up against. She knew nonetheless that she was about to undertake a very difficult task. It had to be done though, whether Vegita would choose to agree with her or not.

She entered the gravity building when he opened the door for her, her jaw set, and her eyes level with his. She had spent enough time with Vegita by now to know pretty much how he was going to react to all of this, and she was prepared for anything her imagination could cook up. Still, Vegita was a rather unpredictable character sometimes, and she was pretty sure that she was going to have to resort to drastic means to bring about the desired results. This would make him very angry with her; she was sure. It had to be done, though, so when he turned around to go turn the machine on, she gritted her teeth, reached forward, and lightly grabbed onto his arm to get his attention.

"Vegita, we need to talk," she said when he turned around to glare at her in surprise.

Vegita looked first at the determined expression on her face, and then at the hand still holding firmly onto his arm. Scowling, he looked back up at her face. "You'd better have a good reason for stalling me, woman," he said in a threatening tone of voice.

Bulma had been around Vegita so long now that she no longer felt all that threatened when he used this tone of voice around her. He usually reserved it for expressions of mild annoyance or displeasure, which, all things considered, made up about three fourths of his vocabulary with her. Besides, this first part was going to be a cakewalk compared to what was to come; that much she knew.

"Vegita," she began, letting go of his arm and stepping back a little. "We've been at this for four months straight now – five to seven hours a day for me, twelve for you (not counting your time with me) for seven days a week every week since we began. I say it's time for a break."

Vegita didn't answer her immediately. He eyed her for a few moments, his stern expression insufferably unreadable. Finally, after studying her for a few moments longer, he gave her his reply. "Just how long of a break did you have in mind?" he asked with a scowl.

Bulma crossed her arms and unwaveringly returned his stare. "A week at least," she said fearlessly, "although I daresay two wouldn't hurt."

Vegita snorted almost immediately. "And I suppose you think you've _earned_ such leisure," he said with a disdainful sneer.

"I do," she said solemnly, her eyes never breaking contact with his. This was going well enough so far, she thought to herself. Of course, she hadn't expected the real explosion to come yet anyway.

Vegita stared back at her, almost giving away the surprise that came to him. He really hadn't expected her to reply so frankly. Instead, he had fully expected her to lose her temper and blow up at him in self-righteous fury. Perhaps it was her unusually rational civility that caused him to give in to her so easily. Whatever the reason, he didn't take a long amount of time to make up his mind.

"Well, all right then," he grunted, raising his nose derisively at her. "Take as much time as you see fit, but be warned that I won't be dropping your level. When you do decide to return, we'll take up exactly where we left off."

"Agreed," Bulma replied, closing her eyes and nodding in grave concurrence.

"Now get the hell out of here," Vegita snorted, glaring impatiently at her. "Just because you've chosen to go the lazy route doesn't mean that I have."

Bulma drew in a deep breath and looked unwaveringly up at him again. Now began the difficult part. "No," she said firmly.

"What?" Vegita said, arching an eyebrow in pure surprise. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said no," Bulma replied calmly, her gaze still unwavering. "I'm not leaving – not yet. Not until you do."

Vegita had momentarily been struck speechless. It had not escaped his scrutiny that Bulma had gradually nursed an obnoxious habit of blowing off his authority over the past few months, but she had never openly opposed him in the gravity room before - never, that is, until now.

"You'd better explain yourself, and I mean right now, woman," he said, his voice icily quiet. He crossed his arms and glared at her. He was graciously giving her a chance to explain herself before he knocked her silly - something he wouldn't usually do. "I won't allow anyone - absolutely _anyone_ - in the way of _my_ training!"

Bulma didn't have to see the expression on his face to know that Vegita was deadly serious. She had known anyway that there were bound to be limits to what he'd let her get away with. Still, after looking closely at his menacing, angry expression, she reaffirmed herself of the severity of Vegita's situation. There were unmistakable signs there on the face she'd grown so accustomed to in the past few months - signs of a fatigue which she recognized all too well. She was experiencing it herself, but she knew that Vegita had a far more dangerous case of it than she did. She wasn't about to let it get the better of him - not if she could help it. She wasn't about to back off now.

"When I said that I believed I'd earned a break," she began, matching his stare once again, "I wasn't being entirely accurate. It's true that I've earned a break, but that's not why I've asked for one. More to the point is the fact that I _need_ one. Training with you is anything but monotony, Vegita, but it's easier than you might think for someone to do damage to himself if all he does is train. I believe the mind requires more to occupy it than the same routine day in and day out, and if periods of rest and recuperation aren't taken from time to time, then just as much harm could be done to that person as any kind of serious physical injury."

Vegita looked very much like he was about to lose whatever minuscule degree of patience he had left. "I already said you could take your little vacation, didn't I?" he snapped, making no effort to hide his displeasure at being hindered thus. "You could have saved that ridiculous lecture! What the hell does it have to do with this tripe about making me leave my own gravity room?"

Bulma acknowledged his angry question by continuing with the rest of her well-rehearsed speech. "The training I've undergone is nothing compared to yours, Vegita," she replied, gazing fixedly and sternly at him. "I need a break, but not nearly as badly as you do. I'm not leaving - not until you agree to do the same, for an entire week at least."

To say that Vegita felt outraged was putting things lightly. "How dare you!" he hissed, balling his hands into fists and glowering at her. "I am a Saiyan! To imply that training of _any_ duration could do to me any of that swill you just spouted is an insult I would never allow to go unpunished! Furthermore, you didn't even imply it; you said it outright!" He then sent her such a glare of fury that for the briefest of moments, she felt her resolve falter - but it was only for a moment.

"Try to understand," she chided gently, giving it one more shot. "You're incredibly powerful, Vegita - more so than anyone of my level of ability could ever dream to be. Still, even you aren't indestructible. You've already proven that you have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to self control and your training. You nearly killed yourself last time. Do you want to go all the way this time?"

Vegita glared at her, his eyes burning holes in hers. "I will not be told by anyone that I am _ever_ not in control of myself! I am the most powerful Saiyan who has ever lived! I have no 'blind spot' in anything I do, least of which being my training! I alone know what's best for me - not Kakarrot, not those asinine friends of yours, and certainly not an ungrateful, idiotic weakling like _you_. Now get out of my gravity room, and don't you _ever_ contradict me again!"

Bulma sighed angrily. "Shall I take this to mean that you refuse to take a break?" she asked him, her expression calm but very stern.

"Not only do I refuse," Vegita snarled, "but I give you my word that if the idea is even suggested to me again, I will make you _very_ sorry that it was."

"I thought so," Bulma sighed, shaking her head angrily and walking past him toward the gravity machine. "I had really hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this, Vegita. Honestly, do you always have to do things the hard way?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vegita roared, spinning around and glaring at her with only barely suppressed fury.

Bulma ignored him. She walked over to one of the side panels of the gravity machine, gritted her teeth, and punched through the metal panel. When she withdrew her closed hand, dozens of wire pieces emerged from the panel with it, clenched amongst her fingers. Dropping them dismissively on the gravity room floor, she made a rather stiff walk past Vegita and opened the door.

"Here it comes," she thought with a wince.

When Bulma had punched into the metal panel, Vegita's face had turned red. By the time she'd stood up and walked past him, it had changed to dark purple. It didn't take him long to relocate his voice after that.

"Don't move a muscle!" he bellowed, whirling around.

Bulma stopped in the doorway. She exhaled, and then she turned around slowly. She crossed her arms and looked directly into Vegita's eyes, patiently awaiting the impending eruption.

"You'd better be able to fix that!" he said in a dangerously soft, rumbling voice, taking a menacing step towards her.

"I've rendered the machine inoperable," Bulma said coldly, standing her ground. "It'll be easy enough to fix, Vegita, but I give you my word that I won't fix it until I'm satisfied that you've had enough time away from it. You can tantrum all you want to; just be aware that nothing you can say or do is going to change my mind."

Vegita looked like he was about to pop a vessel. "Wrong!" he roared, his chi flaring impressively. "You're going to fix that machine right now, or I swear I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" Bulma interrupted him, her voice harsh and angry, stomping up to him until she was right in his face. "Go ahead and say it, you self-absorbed cretin! Just what are you going to do, Vegita? Kill me? Is that it?"

Vegita nearly stepped back; her abrupt advance had surprised him so. He glared into her infuriated eyes, and to his surprise, he found no trace of retreat in them. She was more determined about this than he had initially given her credit for.

"Well?" she demanded impatiently. "Say it! Finish your sentence!"

Vegita had lost his patience again. "You seem to have forgotten just who you're talking to," he growled angrily at her. "Don't think that I'll hold anything back on you, because when it comes to this, I won't! I'm a hair's breadth away from losing my temper with you, woman!"

If Bulma hadn't allowed herself to get so angry with him, she might have seen this as her chance to wrap the whole thing up. Unfortunately, she pretty much blew her golden opportunity with her next choice of words.

"Now you're the one making idle threats," she laughed snidely. "I thought you might have had an inclination to blow me to smithereens or something. At the very least I thought you'd give me a good pounding, but lose your temper? Tch! You really _are_ getting soft, Vegita."

That had done it. As she turned to walk out the door, his arm shot out like a serpent, and it snatched her arm, wrenching it from her side and pulling the rest of her along for the ride. Bulma should have anticipated something of this nature, but she hadn't, thanks to her anger's clouding her judgment. It didn't take her long to realize that she'd made a boo-boo, though, when Vegita yanked her back around until her eyes were level with his again.

"I'm what?" he said, his voice icily low.

"Y-you heard me," Bulma replied, suddenly rather unsure of herself. Vegita was gripping her arm so tightly that she couldn't help wincing a bit, and she hadn't seen this kind of anger in his eyes for a good while. Perhaps she'd gone a little too far.

Vegita saw the insecurity and nervousness flicker in Bulma's eyes, and he pounced on it. "What I heard," he said quietly, squeezing her arm even harder, "was that you think I'm getting soft. I'd hate for you to form such a misguided opinion. I can see that you need to be reminded just what a dangerous man I can be when I'm your enemy."

Bulma wasn't sure how he did it. All she knew was that at one moment she'd been standing next to him in the gravity room, and at the next, she was sailing backwards out the door, with him flying out after her.

"Woah!" she cried, slapping her hands and feet onto the ground and launching herself off to the side in an effort to dodge an energy blast as he flung it at her. "Vegita, stop!" She did a quick somersault and dropped to her feet. The chi blast he had thrown exploded harmlessly on the ground where she'd jumped away, but that made no difference to Bulma.

"What's the big idea?!" she spat at him as he landed a few yards away from her. "Firing off chi blasts in the middle of the compound! You might have hurt someone, Vegita!"

Vegita curled his lips into a cruel sneer. "You're right," he said evilly. "I very well might have, mightn't I? The day is young. Give me some time." With lightning speed, he darted forward and landed a vicious kick to her stomach. He jumped back as Bulma hunched over and then fell to her knees, gasping and clutching her middle in pain.

"Why… why y-you…!" she gasped, her head reeling from the pain, but her mind quickly beginning to boil with anger. This wasn't anything like the kind of blows he dealt her in the gravity room. This was much worse. She must have seriously pissed him off.

"Get up!" Vegita ordered, scowling fiercely at her. "You're the one who chose to disable the machine, so you're the one who I'll use to train myself with. You've dug yourself a hole you can't climb out of this time, woman."

Bulma looked up at him in astonishment. She hadn't expected this; that was for sure. Vegita was threatening to beat her up - to seriously beat the holy snot out of her - unless she agreed to fix his machine. She was sure that's what he was driving at, and she had only to see the look on his face to tell that he was serious. She wondered if she was willing to take a severe beating over this. Principles or not, the prospect of getting pummeled into unconsciousness didn't appeal to her in the slightest, and she knew that Vegita wasn't going to stop until she gave in.

She glared angrily at him, and as she looked at his eyes again, she once again found the telltale signs of fatigue and overexertion there. Damn it all... he was going to run himself into the ground, and if she didn't stop him, she might one day soon lose her sensei to his own stupidity. She had no choice; she had to do this.

Whether he liked the idea or not, Vegita needed to take a break, and if she had to beat him at his own game to make him do it, then so be it. She only hoped she'd last long enough. After gritting her teeth and trying to ignore the pain, she got back up onto her feet. This was one time when Vegita wasn't going to get his way.

Staring hard at Vegita, Bulma straightened up, but she did not assume a defensive stance. She allowed her arms to lie still at her sides. She wasn't going to give in, but she wasn't going to fight him, either; that would go against everything she was trying to get through to him.

Grinning at what he perceived to be her doubting his seriousness, Vegita leapt at her while her guard was down, and he dealt her a solid blow to the jaw which sent her sprawling backwards.

"I caught you napping," he jeered, laughing cruelly at her.

Bulma didn't answer him. Instead, she shook the dizziness away, and slowly and painfully, she returned to her feet. Once again, she let her arms fall passively to her sides.

Now, it just so happened that everyone at Capsule Corporation who wasn't deaf had heard the small explosion that had accompanied Vegita's blast. Yamucha, being the fleetest of foot, was the first to arrive on the scene. He arrived just in time to see Vegita send Bulma sprawling backward with that punch. Aghast, he watched Bulma get to her feet and look up at Vegita, who only laughed in her face.

"Bulma!" he cried angrily, dashing toward her. "Don't worry! I'm coming!"

Bulma didn't openly acknowledge him. She didn't even look in his direction. Instead, she raised her arm and shot a chi blast toward him. It exploded a short distance in front of him, and he had to skid to a stop to keep from being hit by it.

"B-Bulma!" he cried in confusion.

"Stay away, Yamucha," she said coldly, without removing her gaze from Vegita. "This is between Vegita and me. You don't have a place in this at all."

Vegita sneered at her. "Maybe you ought to ask him for help," he taunted her with a wicked smile. "You're certainly going to need it."

Bulma didn't answer him. She simply watched him and allowed her guard to subside entirely. There was a slight trace of sadness to her expression, but not even a hint of hesitation or submission.

Vegita flew at her again, and this time it was a kick to her left side. Bulma landed with a grunt on the ground a few yards away, and she didn't get back up immediately. She groaned a bit, and after rubbing her side where he had kicked her, she slowly picked herself up off the ground. She stared at Vegita again, and although he could easily see the occasional wince of pain, she again showed him no sign of breaking down – only the faint sadness that had been there before.

At about this time, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs came running up. They stopped when they came even with Yamucha, and they shared his look of confusion when they saw Vegita, angry and poised to fight, and then Bulma, scuffed up and facing off against him, but leaving herself wide open.

By now, Vegita had finally realized that Bulma wasn't fighting back, or even making an effort to defend herself from his blows, for that matter. He didn't know for certain why she was acting so strangely, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was her way of trying to defy him. Naturally, the thought only served to make him angrier. "All right," he thought savagely, charging up his chi for another blast. "I'll up the stakes, then. Let's see how much longer she can keep up this inane little act! I'll be damned if she doesn't get the point from this!" He shot a rather potent chi blast directly at her. It was a considerably powerful one, but nothing she couldn't have handled if she really focused. Still, Vegita had made the assumption that she was finally going to take him seriously and block it. He was to have no such luck.

Bulma lost a little color when she saw what was coming, especially when she sensed how powerful this blast was. Vegita was starting to get serious indeed. Still, she neither flinched nor blocked the oncoming blast. Instead, she took the thing head-on, utterly surprising Vegita and eliciting gasps of horror from Yamucha and her parents. Vegita's attack exploded as it hit her, and she flew backward quite a few yards before crouching into a ball and rolling as she landed. She had spared herself a good deal of damage from her landing, but it had done nothing to help the damage she had sustained from the blast itself.

Bulma didn't get up right away this time, either. There were several places where she had sustained rather painful burns, and the blast had fairly well knocked her breathless. It had been a long time since she'd taken a chi blast head-on, without the slightest effort to block it. She hadn't remembered it hurting like this. He'd left her with no alternative, though. She had known that she'd had only two options: cancel the blast out with her own chi power, and risk it exploding and hurting her parents; or take it head-on and absorb the damage herself. Given the circumstances, there really had been no thinking necessary to make the decision. Unfortunately, the obvious choice was also the more painful one on her part.

"This won't do," she thought with a soft groan, and she pushed herself slowly and painfully back onto her feet. She looked at Vegita. He certainly had gotten over his initial surprise quickly. In fact, he looked like he was about to explode from his own anger. This wasn't good. "It can't be helped," she thought resolutely, her eyes darting briefly to her stunned parents and friend. "I'm just going to have to teleport us away from here. I can't run the risk of letting them get hurt by any of this."

Vegita was advancing upon her again, but he was stomping forward furiously - not the usual advance he used for attacking someone. Just the same, if she was going to do this, she was going to have to do it now.

She stopped time just before he reached her, and after grabbing one of his arms, she flew up into the air, pulling him along behind her. His blows had weakened her somewhat, but she had ample strength to fly him – and herself – to someplace more secluded. If Vegita was intent on using chi blasts, Bulma wanted them both as far away from other people as they could be.

After a good hour's flight, Bulma settled on a grassy field about 100 miles past the eastern borders of the city. This would be adequate, she decided. Breathing a little heavily from her efforts, she set Vegita down on his feet and backed off a few yards. Then, after taking a few long, calming deep breaths, she let time flow again.

Vegita nearly tripped when he came back into motion. Staring wildly at the abrupt change of scenery, he tensely balled his hands into fists and glared at Bulma as he struck a more guarded pose. "Finally," he thought, "she's trying something."

"I'm sorry, Vegita," Bulma said, still panting a little. "It was becoming too dangerous to remain where we were. Yamucha might be able to dodge a stray chi blast, but my parents can't."

Vegita growled at her. "Why didn't you just knock it away, then?" he demanded. "You could have handled that pathetic little fireburst easily, you little fool! Why aren't you fighting back?!" With an infuriated yell, he lunged at her, his fist drawn back for a punch.

Bulma didn't move. She just remained standing where she was, staring calmly but resolutely into his eyes as he raced forward.

When Vegita reached her, he snapped his fist forward, right for her face. Oddly though, he brought it to a full stop within a millimeter of her nose. He glared furiously at her. She hadn't moved. She hadn't even blinked. She just stood there, staring at him.

Vegita let out an infuriated groan. "God dammit, woman!" he thundered. "What the hell is wrong with you? Fight, dammit!"

Bulma smiled a gentle smile at him. "No," she said simply.

"No?!" he yelled. "No?! What the _hell_ do you mean no?!"

Bulma's expression became more serious. "I will not fight you," she replied quietly.

"I demand to know why!" he roared at her, his chi flaring so violently that she was buffeted by the fierce winds it created, and her hair whipped all around her face in response.

"Because," she replied, closing her eyes and folding her arms, "if I fight you, I'll lose."

"You don't have to tell _me_," he growled. "Is that it, then? You're afraid of losing to me? I'd have thought you'd be used to it by now."

"If I lose to you," Bulma said, continuing as if he hadn't interrupted her, "I'll have to fix your gravity machine, and I'm not going to do that."

Vegita looked like he was about to explode again. "You most certainly will!" he yelled, seizing her by her shoulders and giving her a shake. He was beginning to look more than slightly flustered. "You'll do it right now, you infernal female!"

Bulma smiled at him again. "No," she repeated.

If it were possible for a Saiyan to spontaneously combust out of anger, there would have been a bright pillar of flame standing there in front of Bulma at that moment. Vegita tried three times to say something, but each time the words got stuck in his throat and his face got slightly redder. Finally, the words came, explosively and violently right in her face.

"Why in the _blazes_ not?!" he screamed, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

If Bulma hadn't been so earnest in her efforts, she might have giggled at Vegita's frustration, but she didn't. Instead, she took a deep breath and answered his question.

"Because," she said, smiling at him. "Strange as this may sound, Vegita, it _would_ upset me if I happened to lose you, especially for something as stupid as overexerting yourself. If you won't take proper care of yourself, then I guess I'll just have to do it for you." It was time for the finishing move. If this didn't beat him, she knew that there would be no way for her to win.

What she did next shocked all of the anger right out of Vegita. She wrapped her arms around behind him and pulled herself toward him into a soft, warm hug. She laid her head on his shoulder and spoke her quiet, earnest words. "Don't be so hardheaded, Vegita," she said. "I promise I'll fix your machine after you've rested up for a week. It's only one week, after all. Will that really be so horrible?" She leaned back away from him and smiled at his bewildered expression, giving herself an internal pat on the back as she knew with certainty that she had gotten through to him at last. It had taken a very bold and admittedly quite embarrassing maneuver to do it, but she could see the unmistakable signs of defeat in his face. She had won.

Vegita stared back into her face, now slightly flushed in her embarrassment, but decidedly firm in her resolve, and he let out an angry sigh. "Damn it all," he said finally, shaking his head. He released his painful grip on her shoulders, and Bulma let go of him and stepped back. He shook his head again and frowned at her. "You should have just put it like this in the beginning," he growled. "You didn't have to let me knock you around so much, you little fool."

"Oh come on, Vegita!" Bulma laughed. "You can't stand there and tell me with a straight face that you were in any mood to actually _listen_ to anything I had to say, now can you?" She laughed again, and Vegita scowled. He knew full well that she was right, but he wasn't about to feel sorry for anything. It was her fault he'd gotten so angry, after all.

Bulma could tell what was on his mind, and she grinned. He couldn't help being the way that he was, she decided. She really didn't care much about receiving an apology from _him_, anyway. She was just so relieved that he was going to do what she asked, and that he'd get the rest he so desperately needed. He hadn't hurt her all that badly, anyway. It was just a few scrapes, scratches, and burns, and she considered it a worthwhile payment for her peace of mind. She smiled at him.

"So it's settled then?" she asked, as a slight spark of triumph flashed in her eyes. "You'll try to relax, won't you, Vegita?"

Vegita frowned. "You know you're just wasting my time with this, don't you?" he said, sounding more than a little annoyed.

Bulma's expression hardened slightly. "I suppose it's possible," she said with a reluctant nod, "but it's a risk I'm willing to take."

Scowling, Vegita crossed his arms and turned away slightly. "You just don't know how to mind your own damn business," he snapped.

"No, I guess I don't," she laughed, holding a hand behind her head and sticking her tongue out. "I guess you're just going to have to chalk it up to one of my many flaws you're always referring to, Vegita."

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "I don't know why I put up with an idiot like you."

Bulma laughed. "Maybe it's for the same reason that I put up with an arrogant bastard like you," she chuckled. "It's because you're just as flawed as I am."

Vegita bristled indignantly, and when Bulma began to laugh again, he took advantage of her lowered guard. He shot around behind her and had put her in a full nelson before she'd had any time to realize what he was doing.

"Hey!" Bulma laughed, sending a half-hearted kick back towards him. "Knock it off, you sore loser!"

"I'll give you only one chance to withdraw that foolhardy remark," Vegita breathed in her ear, nearly crushing her arms with the force of his hold.

"What, that you're flawed?" Bulma giggled. "No way! In fact, I think I'll just tell the whole world! Hey world!" she shouted, trying not to laugh. "Vegita's flawed! Sorry folks, but the mighty Saiyan prince we all know and worship is imperfect! I know there will be much mourning and wailing in the streets, but it's the awful, horrifying truth!"

"Are you through?" he asked her, his voice dangerously soft.

"Yeah, I guess so," Bulma replied with a grin. "Let me guess. I've just sealed my doom, haven't I?"

Although she couldn't see, his lips had curled into a wicked grin. "You have no idea," he said evilly.

"Then I think it's only fair to warn you," she said, stopping time, disentangling herself from him, and after backing off a good bit to give herself some distance, letting it pick up again. "That without high gravity on your side, Veggie-san, you're going to find me harder to hold onto." She grinned and crossed her arms defiantly.

Vegita, seemingly unsurprised, crossed his own arms and smirked back at her. "Don't forget that I'm faster than you are," he said bossily. "I'll admit, that trick of yours might come in handy at times, but your using it as a crutch is going to get you into trouble. I can knock you senseless long before you execute that move if I can see it coming. More often than not, I can. You're predictable enough."

Bulma groaned. "Save it, Vegita," she said, making a face at him. "I've heard this lecture at least a hundred times already, and besides, you're not supposed to be giving me a lesson today, remember? You agreed to take it easy for a while."

"I said no such thing," Vegita said, snorting at her with a scornful glare.

"You implied it," Bulma pointed out.

"Is it my fault you got the wrong idea?"

Bulma grinned evilly at him. "You're going to relax, even if I have to force you to," she said, with an audible note of challenge in her voice.

"Feh," Vegita grunted. "You couldn't force _me_ to do anything."

"We'll see," Bulma replied mysteriously, "but since I know you're unaccustomed to the concept of taking things easy anyway, I already figured I was going to have to teach you. After all, there are some things that even _you_ don't know, oh mighty prince of the Saiyans."

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "I only bother to learn things of importance. You can spare me whatever trivial fluff you might have in that vacuous head of yours, foolish woman."

"Well," Bulma retorted, grinning mischievously and rising into the air, "then I guess it must not be important enough to mention that I'm going to tell my mom not to cook you any more food if you won't try to relax."

"What?!" Vegita said, unfolding his arms. She'd captured his interest this time. About the only thing that rivaled Vegita's ego was his stomach. She grinned shamelessly at him.

Laughing tauntingly, Bulma took off like a bullet for Capsule Corporation, with a protesting Vegita not far behind. Happy that her "plan" had been a success, she began to think of what she should do with her free time, now that she wasn't going to be spending the entire day either sleeping or training. It was something she hadn't really tried in a while, and she was dying to get started!


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: A Cure for Boredom**

Apparently Vegita valued food more than Bulma gave him credit for, because, although she'd had her share of concerns about how he would behave himself without having training to distract him, he was pretty much keeping things civil. Although he spent much of his time sulking and grumbling, he really did appear to be making an effort to relax. As a reward, Mrs. Briefs took the opportunity to treat him to the most scrumptious dinners she knew how to make, being sure not to forget the all-important quantity factor while she was at it. Suffice it to say that when dinnertime rolled around, Vegita didn't do much complaining.

Still, his relatively good behavior proved to be short-lived after only a couple of days. Yamucha had gotten wind from Bulma what was going on, and he found Vegita's predicament very hilarious indeed. He made it a point every day to walk conspicuously out to his gravity room when he knew Vegita would be skulking about along the way. On top of that, he was sure to send him a mocking sneer for good measure. Understandably, this was a tad displeasing to the proud Saiyan prince, and after only a couple days of letting Yamucha get away with it, he finally lost his patience with him.

Yamucha realized his fun at Vegita's expense had finally run its course when, growling angrily, Vegita grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him a few inches off of the ground, even though he had to float up in the air to do it. "You have something you'd like to say to me, worm?" he growled at Yamucha, who had turned very pale indeed.

"H-hey, don't get so worked up, Vegita!" Yamucha laughed nervously, holding his hands up defensively. "It was all in fun!"

"What a coincidence," Vegita snarled. "I'm in the mood for a little fun myself, and my idea of fun is your bloodied carcass flying at 300 mph into a nice, solid building. Doesn't that sound like _fun _to you?"

"Vegita!" came a sudden, angry yell from behind him. "You put him down right now! What the hell is it this time?" Bulma - fortunately for Yamucha - had been en route to the workshop when she had stumbled upon the scene before her. So much for Vegita's behaving himself!

Snarling impatiently, Vegita flung Yamucha aside. After sending a rather nasty glare at Bulma, he took off into the sky and was soon out of sight.

"That man's unbalanced!" Yamucha spat, scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off in disgust. "His temper flares up at the drop of a pin!"

Bulma wasn't buying it. "Okay, Yamucha," she said sternly. "What was it this time? You were teasing him again, weren't you, you dope? Honestly, you must have a death wish or something! Much as Vegita would love to smash you to a bloody pulp, he's actually got a fair margin of self-control. He's not going to fly off the handle at the mere drop of a pin... not unless some suicidal idiot throws a whole pincushion's worth of them at him," she added, eying him suspiciously. "Spill it. What did you say to him?"

"I didn't say anything!" Yamucha cried indignantly, his voice cracking a little despite his best efforts to sound innocent. "Here I was, minding my own business, walking out to my gravity room. All I do is glance at the man, and he goes ballistic on me! I tell you, Bulma, he's deranged!"

Bulma crossed her arms and glared at him. "All you did was glance at him, huh?" she said, her voice not exactly exuding confidence in the legitimacy of his claim. "Must've been some glance."

"Honest, that's all it was!" Yamucha exclaimed, crossing his heart and flinging his arms into the air. "Nothing else!"

"Humph," Bulma grunted, obviously still not convinced. "Well, I'll talk to Vegita about it then. I won't put up with any more shenanigans between you two. Do you understand?" She glared so menacingly at him that Yamucha actually cringed.

"Absolutely," he said, nodding vigorously. "Uh… are you going to go talk to Vegita now?"

"No," she replied tersely. "Not while he's still angry, and certainly not until I've cooled down either!" With that she turned on her heel and marched off for the workshop.

- - - - -

That evening, Vegita came back just long enough to wolf down his dinner. Then he slunk out the door without so much as a word to anyone. Yamucha hadn't shown up for dinner at all. He'd said something about having dinner out that night.

"What's eating Vegita?" Mrs. Briefs asked Bulma as she helped her clean up after dinner. "He's never really much of a chatterbox, but he certainly seemed eager to leave tonight. Did you two have a lovers' quarrel or something?" she laughed, elbowing Bulma in the ribs.

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Mom," Bulma snapped. "No, that isn't it. He and Yamucha almost got into a fight today. Geez, that guy can't even go a whole week without causing trouble! I say we give him nothing but bread and water tomorrow!"

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Actually, I'm not really surprised this happened," she chuckled.

"It came as no great shock to me either," Bulma grumbled. "It's actually more of a surprise to me that it's been so long since those two last bumped heads."

"That isn't what I meant," Mrs. Briefs said with a reproachful frown. "The man's bored, Bulma. You've robbed him - even if only temporarily - of his only means of occupying his time. It's no wonder he's gotten so irritable. He's got nothing to do."

Bulma sat down then, and a thoughtful look settled on her face. "You know, I never considered that," she admitted. "I've got my inventions to tinker with, and I can go into the city for fun, too... but he doesn't have anything, does he?"

"It's a wonder the poor dear hasn't said anything about it," Mrs. Briefs said, sitting across from her. "It must be dreadful for him."

"Don't misunderstand me, Mom," Bulma said with a sardonic smile. "I don't feel _that_ sorry for him. Boredom alone is no excuse for doing what he did, but still, I do think that maybe I ought to devise some sort of amusement for him. After all, I'm the one who's forcing him to take this little vacation. I haven't been true to my word anyway; I told him I'd help him learn how to relax, and all I've done is ignore him. He still has over half the week left to go, so I'm going to try and think of some way for him to pass the rest of the time without his having to kill anybody."

Bulma pondered the matter for all the rest of the evening, but no really good ideas came to her. What else would a guy like Vegita enjoy doing besides fighting and training? She didn't want to do either with him. That was precisely what she was taking a break from.

"Maybe you should take him to visit the guys at the turtle hermit's place," Mrs. Briefs had suggested. "I'll bet he'd enjoy getting away from us and the city for a while, at the very least."

Bulma had laughed aloud at that silly idea. She could just see Vegita knocking that obnoxious pervert halfway across the ocean. That in and of itself would make the whole trip worthwhile. She knew better than to bring such a time bomb onto that tiny island, though. Anyway, he wasn't likely to go for hanging out with any other people, seeing as how he hated them so much.

As it turned out, though, her mother's idea hadn't been a total flop. It had actually lead Bulma onto the path of a much more agreeable - not to mention plausible - solution. It was going to take a little trickery on her part, but not only would it probably keep Vegita amused, but it would also keep him away from Yamucha for a few days - long enough to give both those hotheads ample time to cool down.

Early the next morning, she began to make the preparations she'd need to set her plan in motion. She made a quick trip into the city to buy the supplies she figured she'd need, and then she rushed back to the house for the other things she wanted to bring along. By then her mother had gotten up and come downstairs to begin breakfast. The scene she met when she stepped into her kitchen made her cry aloud in horrified astonishment. Bulma had groceries, whole wardrobes of clothes, and a suitcase full of capsules spread out all around the kitchen. She looked up at Mrs. Briefs and grinned.

"Morning, Mom!" she exclaimed. "Don't mind me; I'll have this stuff all packed up in a jiffy!"

"What is all this?" her mother cried incredulously. "You look like you're stocking up for world war five!"

Bulma laughed. "Close," she said with a grin. "Nah, I'm just gathering the stuff I'll need to keep Vegita fed for a few days."

"Oh, but you don't have to do that, Bulma dear!" Mrs. Briefs cried, looking in dismay at the havoc Bulma had wrought on her kitchen. "You know I go to the grocer's every morning to buy the things I'll need for the day! I don't like stocking too much extra food at one time!"

"Calm down, Mom!" Bulma laughed, holding her hands up defensively. "This stuff isn't for all of us - just Vegita and me. I only hope I don't kill us both with my cooking," she added with a good-natured laugh.

"Oh?" Mrs. Briefs said, arching an eyebrow in interest. "You and Vegita have something planned, hm?"

"Well, not really," Bulma replied with a mischievous grin. "It just so happens that he has no idea about my little scheme, and he won't either - not until I'm ready to take him where we're going."

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "It sounds like you're plotting to abduct the poor man!" she chuckled. "Just what exactly did you have in mind, Bulma?"

"I guess you _could_ say I'm kidnapping him," Bulma laughed, shrugging her shoulders, "but I don't think he'll mind all that much. At least... I hope he wont," she added, frowning as she realized that her whole plan was depending upon her assumption that Vegita would go along with it. "I mean, all I want to do is help him learn to relax, and I don't see why he'd fight against it. He doesn't have anything else to do anyway, right? I should think he'd agree to this."

Mrs. Briefs shook her head and smiled at her daughter as she watched her fret over a detail that she herself felt would become a non-issue once Vegita realized that it would involve his and Bulma's being alone together. "My, but you are an aggressive thing!" she exclaimed, winking at her daughter and giggling. The blank look of puzzlement Bulma sent in reply made her quickly change the subject. "So where are you taking him then? With all these supplies, I'd think it must be someplace awfully cut off from civilization."

"That I won't say," Bulma said mysteriously, "but I will say that neither I nor Vegita will be coming back here for at least three days. Hopefully by then I'll have calmed him down some."

Mrs. Briefs smiled and shook her head. All at once her countenance fell a little. "Does Yamucha know what you're up to yet?" she asked with a worried frown.

"No," was Bulma's emphatic reply, "and I don't want him to, either. He still thinks Vegita's just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on me or something, and I know all he'll do is worry. Besides, he might even try to come find me, and that will defeat the purpose of my doing this in the first place. I want to get Vegita to take some time away from this place, and from us. Truthfully, I probably shouldn't stay with him either, but someone's gotta make sure he behaves himself." She said this with such a serious expression that her mother found it awfully hard to keep from laughing.

"Well, at any rate," Mrs. Briefs said, smiling despite herself, "don't overdo it with the orders and rules, Bulma. Vegita isn't going to tolerate it for too long if all he gets from you is bossiness and nagging. Don't be afraid to just step back and let him have his way now and then. He is a man, after all, and men have a tendency to act very much like spoiled children - especially when they're used to getting their way, and then suddenly don't get that anymore."

Bulma made a face. "You're making me sound just as obnoxious and bossy as he is," she grumbled.

Mrs. Briefs wasn't going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole. Why bother when Bulma made it so easy? She only chuckled and shook her head. "So when are you leaving, and how are you going to get the man of the hour there?" she asked her.

Bulma smiled mysteriously. "As to when, that will be as soon as I get all this stuff set up and stowed away out there, which should take about an hour. Then I'll come back here and nab him."

"'Nab' him?" Mrs. Briefs asked, arching an eyebrow and giggling. "I must say, I am curious to find out how you're going to make off with him without so much as a struggle. It's my understanding that Vegita doesn't take too well to being forced into anything."

Bulma grinned. Although her mother was aware that Bulma had abilities far exceeding those of most people, she didn't really know what they were. She'd seen her daughter zipping around in the sky above Capsule Corporation a good many times, and that was proof enough for her that Bulma was remarkable. She'd never really asked her to go into much detail about any of her techniques before. Although she'd heard Bulma mention her teleportation to Kuririn and Yamucha a few times, she really didn't know what it was. The first - and only - time she'd ever seen it in action was when Bulma had transported Vegita and herself away from Capsule Corp. a few days ago. She might have forgotten, Bulma thought to herself.

"Would you like for me to demonstrate?" Bulma said with an impish grin. "I _could_ show you, Mom."

Mrs. Briefs saw the obvious mischief in Bulma's eyes, but her own curiosity was far too powerful for that to dissuade her. "Really?" she said eagerly. "Here? Now?"

"Yep," Bulma said, the grin still stuck to her face. "Are you sure you want to experience it first-hand? It'll probably shake you up a bit."

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Don't try to scare me, Bulma dear; I'm too excited! Come on! I'm dying to find out what it is that you're going to do to Vegita!"

Bulma laughed. Her mother was gutsy to a fault sometimes, but she loved her for it. "Okay Mom," she said with a nod. "Just focus on where you are now. Then you'll get the full effect of it."

"Okay!" Mrs. Briefs cried, grabbing onto Bulma's arm excitedly. "I'm ready!"

"Here we go!" Bulma said. "On three. One… Two…" She stopped time then and gently lifted her mom into her arms and trotted out the door with her.

"This'll most likely land me in a world of trouble," Bulma laughed, sailing up a hundred or so feet into the air. Glancing eagerly down at the now miniature buildings far below them, she let time flow once again.

"Three!" she cried, laughing at how bewildered her mother had suddenly become.

"What in the…?" Mrs. Briefs gasped, looking around. She glanced downward, and with a yelp of terrified surprise, she clung to her daughter with such a fierce tenacity that she quite surprised even Bulma.

"My goodness!" she shrieked. "How on Earth did we get all the way up here?"

Bulma chuckled. "Sorry Mom," she said with an apologetic grin. "I know you aren't too keen on heights, but I just couldn't resist. You were asking for it!"

"Yes, I suppose I was," Mrs. Briefs laughed somewhat weakly, "but I think I've learned my lesson now, Bulma. What say you take me (slowly!) back down to solid ground?"

Bulma grinned and nodded. She floated back down to the ground and gently set her mother back on her feet. "Better?" she asked.

"Much," Mrs. Briefs sighed with relief, steadying herself on Bulma's shoulder and nodding emphatically. "Um… Bulma?" she said, eying her curiously. "Could you tell me… just how you were able to do that?"

"Well," Bulma said uncomfortably, her cheeks flushing a little in embarrassment. "I can try… but I'm not sure you'll be able to understand."

"Just the same," Mrs. Briefs persisted, "I'd love to know. Please try."

"Okay," Bulma said with a shrug. "It's like this. I don't know how to put into words how I do it, but I can stop the flow of time with my own power. It allows me freedom of movement in a completely unresponsive environment, and I can do pretty much whatever I want before I let time pick up where it left off. It doesn't take that much energy to do it either, especially after all the training I've had from Vegita. It's really useful though, especially for escaping from bad situations. It's saved my life several times already."

Mrs. Briefs appeared to go a little pale for a few moments, but not for long. "How long have you been able to do this?" she asked Bulma, her expression strangely serious.

"I'd perfected it well enough to use in battle by the time Vegita and Nappa had arrived on Earth," Bulma replied, not sure why her mother seemed so earnest and serious. "It wasn't until I experimented a little with it on the way to Namek that I realized what enormous potential it had."

"Did anyone teach it to you?" her mother continued, all the while beginning to lose her color again. "Yamucha, or Goku perhaps?"

"No," Bulma answered, shaking her head. "I sort of discovered it on my own. It's funny, though; I've tried to teach it to the others, but I haven't had any success. None of them can seem to make it work - not Kuririn, Yamucha, Vegita, or even Goku. Goku even has the remarkable knack of mimicking moves he sees only once or twice, too. It bothers him to no end that he has so much difficulty figuring it out, I can tell you! It's all my fault, though. I just can't seem to put it into words like Yamucha can with his techniques. I'm afraid I'm just not much of a teacher, really!" She laughed then, shaking her head and scratching the back of her head. Her mother did not laugh, however. She only seemed to have gone more pale, as though Bulma had just confirmed something terrible for her.

"Mom," Bulma said, suddenly noticing her mother's unusual pallor. "Are you okay? You don't look so good!"

"I was just remembering something," she said in a faint, somewhat disconnected voice, her eyes seeming to stare through her instead of at her.

"What is it?" Bulma asked, beginning to get really concerned. This was really unlike her mother. Maybe she'd given her too much of a shock earlier. She began to regret teleporting her to such a height, but Mrs. Briefs interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, don't worry," she said cheerily, waving it away and turning to walk toward the house. "It was nothing, really. What I think we ought to do now is get all your stuff together and ready to go. Your father will be getting up soon, and you know what a bear he is if he doesn't have a hot cup of coffee waiting for him when he comes downstairs!"

"Okay," Bulma said, following her, and trying to figure out why - for the first time she could ever remember - her mother's cheerfulness sounded so forced.

- - - - -

Mrs. Briefs helped Bulma pack all her groceries into Capsule Coolers and her and Vegita's wardrobes into separate Capsule Closets. She paused when, while packing Vegita's clothing, she ran across a particular article that interested her.

"And why might we be packing _this_?" she asked Bulma, holding up a dark blue pair of swimming trunks and arching an eyebrow.

"Oh come off it, Mom!" Bulma laughed. "It just so happens that where we're going has some prime swimming possibilities, and that's all I'm saying about it," she added, sticking her tongue out.

"Well it's a very clever pretense for getting to see so much of his skin," Mrs. Briefs remarked in a very impressed tone of voice, packing the swim trunks carefully away in one of the corners of the closet. "Yep. There's no denying you're _my_ daughter, Bulma!"

Bulma turned a deep shade of crimson. "_Mom_!" she yelled a little more loudly than she had intended. "That's not why I… You know I wouldn't! I mean, that is…" She stared in consternation at her mother's obnoxiously polite and attentive face, but she could add no more than another "_Mom_!"

Mrs. Briefs laughed gaily. "Oh Bulma, you really are a sweetheart!" she laughed, a smile of pleasure having permanently fixed itself upon her face. "If there ever has been one moment of your life I'd have loved to have on film, it's that one!"

Bulma didn't know what to say to that, so she just clamped her mouth shut and angrily resumed stuffing what remained of her own clothes into her closet. Beaming, Mrs. Briefs went back to packing Vegita's clothes and, out of sympathy for her very flustered daughter, didn't say another word.

It didn't take them too much longer to finish packing, and when they did, Bulma converted all the coolers and closets back into capsules and put them carefully in preselected slots of her capsule suitcase. All in all, there were seven of the coolers, four of the closets, and over a hundred other capsules of various sizes, colors, and purposes. After a thorough check of her list, Bulma was sure she had everything.

"All right," she said at last. "I'm going to teleport out there with this stuff and set things up. When I've gotten everything ready, I'll come back and get Vegita. It'll take me a good hour to get things set up, so if you see either Vegita or Yamucha, just act naturally. Please don't blow my cover, 'kay? I don't want to give Vegita time to make up his mind about anything until he can see what I have planned for him in its entirety, and I don't want Yamucha finding out about any of this at all!"

"You can count on me, dear," Mrs. Briefs said firmly, pressing a fist against her chest and nodding at her loyally. "But what should I say to Yamucha when he notices that you and Vegita are both gone? I mean, he may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but he isn't stupid either. He's bound to notice something's up."

Bulma thought hard for a moment, but then she shrugged. "Tell him I'm on vacation, and that Vegita got disgusted with the lot of us and took off for God knows where. He'll be back in a few days, but I'll be staying out there an extra week. Then I really will be on vacation!"

"All right, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs agreed. "Now what about your father? He'll notice you're gone too, and I can tell you now that, as much as he teases you about compromising situations and all of that, he isn't going to be exactly pleased that you're going to be spending a few days alone with Vegita. I don't want a repeat of what happened when you disappeared with Yamucha all those years ago. What should I tell him?"

Bulma grimaced as she remembered the way her father had sent the military and a slough of private investigators out to find her, thinking that she'd been kidnapped or something worse. "Don't worry," she said. "You can tell him the truth, and you can also tell him that Vegita and I aren't going off for a wild party or anything. We're just going to take it easy for a few days. Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, smacking a fist into her hand. "Tell Dad that on Thursday, Vegita's free to use his gravity room again, so I'd like for him to fix it for me late Wednesday night. It'll be a really simple fix. He only needs to replace a couple of wires and that panel I punched through."

"Okay Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said. "Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it. I guess I'll see you in about a week and a half," Bulma said, hugging her mother and giving her a kiss. "Kiss Dad for me, okay?"

"Sure," Mrs. Briefs said, smiling. "Bye, Bulma."

"Bye, Mom," Bulma said, waving at her. In the next instant, she and the capsule suitcase had disappeared. Mrs. Briefs chuckled. Poor Vegita wasn't going to know what hit him.

And he didn't, either. When Bulma came back a couple of hours later, she found Vegita still in his capsule house, and still quite asleep. Chuckling quietly in amusement, Bulma stopped time and, after plucking Vegita from his bed, she set out with him for her mysterious destination. She hoped that Vegita wouldn't find his awakening too rude!

- - - - -

When Vegita did awaken, he didn't suspect at first that anything out of the ordinary had happened to him. Why should he have? He was tucked away nice and snugly in his blanket, and he really was quite comfortable. So much so was he, in fact, that at first he didn't want to get up right away. However, he hadn't eaten since his early dinner the previous day, and before long his stomach began growling impatiently at him. Did the annoyances never cease in this infernal place? Growling irritably in time to his empty stomach, he opened his eyes and sat up. He was surprised and (it had to be confessed) a little startled by what he saw. This wasn't his room! Where in blazes was he, and how had he come to be here? He heard a muffled sound below him, and he silently leaped down to the floor. He couldn't sense anyone in the room with him, so he pressed an ear to the soft, beige carpet beneath his feet and listened intently. He could hear the soft singing of a female voice a floor below him. Wherever he was, there was at least one level below the one he was on. Well, he was going to get to the bottom of this, in both senses of the phrase!

Standing upright again, he crept silently to the door and gave the knob a turn. Finding it unlocked, he stepped stealthily out into the hallway and listened. The singing was a bit louder now, and he realized with surprise that he smelled food. His infernal stomach growled again - this time much more ferociously - and he grimaced. First he had to figure out what was going on. Then he could eat. Nevertheless, he followed the inviting scent down the hall until he came to a staircase leading down. Whoever it was that was in this unfamiliar place was down those stairs, and so was the food.

Setting his jaw, he crept noiselessly down the steps just far enough to peer around the wall adjoining them. His eyes opened a little more widely at what he saw. He was looking into a fair-sized kitchen and dining room combo, in the middle of which stood a small table that was covered almost to the point of overflowing with platters of breakfast food. Just beyond it was Bulma, dressed in summer clothes but wearing an apron, singing softly to herself as she slid something out of a sizzling skillet and into a large bowl.

At first Vegita didn't know what to think, much less what he was supposed to do, but the smells emanating from that table full of food made him forget a little of the awkwardness of his situation for the moment. He snorted rather conspicuously and walked nonchalantly the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Good morning, Vegita," Bulma said without turning around. She was still trying to subdue the anxious, eager smile that felt moments away from bursting forth on her face. She could almost see the bewildered expression on his face. "I've almost finished making breakfast, but you can get started on what's there if you like. I was about to go get you up in a moment anyway, as a matter of fact."

Vegita gaped at her for a few moments in silent bewilderment. What did it mean? How had he come to be in this unfamiliar dwelling with her cooking him breakfast and acting as if it was all as normal as could be? It didn't make any sense to him, but one thing was certain - he was going to make sense of it, and he wasn't about to do anything she said until she explained herself.

He remained standing where he was, glaring impatiently at her as she finished seasoning a large bowl of scrambled eggs. Finally, she turned around and set the bowl down on the only empty spot visible on the whole table. Then she looked up at Vegita in surprise.

"Why aren't you eating?" she asked in amazement. "You should be famished! Why, you've gone a whole…" she checked her watch, "…twelve hours without food! That's gotta be some kind of record for you, wouldn't you say?"

Vegita glared angrily at her. "I'm not doing anything until you tell me where the hell I am, and why the hell I'm here!" he said in his most irritated tone of voice.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Bulma said, shaking her head and waving it away. "I'll explain all of that after breakfast, but first we eat."

She removed her apron, sat down, and laid her napkin on her lap. Then she picked up the plate of pancakes that was just in front of her.

Growling, Vegita marched forward, snatched the plate out of her hand, and slammed it back down on the table. "No!" he barked. "First you're going to tell me what the hell is going on here! I'm in no mood to put up with any of your silly games, you damned fool woman!"

"Well I'm in no mood for cold food!" Bulma barked right back at him. "I'm hungry even if you aren't, Vegita, so just sit down and wait patiently, or I'll just take my breakfast and go elsewhere to eat it in peace!" Then she snatched back the plate of pancakes and shoved a generous stack of them onto her plate.

Vegita wasn't about to admit defeat, but a Saiyan's stomach can be a tremendously persuasive force. Instead of arguing further, Vegita he scowled horribly, plunked down in the chair opposite Bulma, and began wolfing entire platters of food, without even bothering to put any of it on his plate before shoveling it into his mouth.

"Maybe he thinks that the sooner the food's gone, the sooner he'll get his explanation," Bulma thought bemusedly to herself. "There's no denying the man eats as much and as fast as Goku, but at least Vegita knows how to demolish a platter of food without getting it all over his face and his side of the table."

By the time Bulma had finished her stack of pancakes and the helping of eggs she'd managed to grab before Vegita had gotten to them, Vegita had completely obliterated breakfast. There was nary a crumb left on any of the dishes.

"How was the food?" Bulma asked him, noticing with a barely suppressed grin that he'd even eaten the stick of butter she'd set aside for the pancakes and toast.

"Pitiful," Vegita replied with a disdainful scowl. "Not even Freeza served his men such swill. No doubt I'll be seeing it all again before the day is through - especially if you're the one who prepared it."

"I suppose that's why you devoured the whole lot of it," Bulma laughed, unable to restrain her mirth any longer. "Honestly Vegita, you're a terrible liar sometimes."

Vegita shot her a withering glare. "So out with it," he commanded impatiently. "I want to hear your explanation, and I'll tolerate no more stalling. It had better be a good one for all the nonsense you've forced me to endure."

Bulma smiled. She had figured that Vegita would be more civil once he had a semi-full stomach (no amount of food ever seemed to satisfy him completely). It was nice to know that she'd finally found an effective way of dealing with him. She could see that she would have to take in a bit of cooking training with her mother when she got back home, so that she could attack him with stronger bait if ever the need arose.

"Here's the deal," she began, folding her hands and leaning onto the table a bit. "In a sense, I've kind of kidnapped you." This time Vegita arched one of _his_ eyebrows. Bulma grinned at him. "I've taken you to stay here with me for the rest of your time off the gravity room," she continued. "I'm making you take a break from Capsule Corporation and the city too now, because I think you need to get away from both to really relax. Although it would probably be best if I just left you alone here, I've decided I'll stay too, just because I don't trust you not to just train out here if I leave you to your own devices. Although," she added with a grin, "at least this way you'll have someone to cook your meals for you. I'm not as good as my mom, but no one's died from my cooking yet, and you're bound to get a bit more variety from me than you would from fending for yourself."

At first Vegita didn't say anything. His mouth twitched a little, but he never broke eye contact with Bulma while he considered what she'd said. Finally he spoke. "And you think you can force me to stay here, do you?" he said quietly.

Bulma looked down then, and she tightened her knuckles a little as she laughed a nervous laugh. "Of course, I can't _make_ you stay," she admitted, biting her lip a little. "I was actually hoping you'd _want_ to." She looked back up at him hopefully. "It won't really be all that bad, Vegita," she said in a hasty, earnest voice. "I thought you would enjoy some peace and quiet away from the compound before you started training again, but I was afraid you'd just refuse if I simply brought the idea up. Besides, there's a lot of fun stuff to do out here…"

"Where _is_ here?" Vegita interrupted her. "So far all I've seen is the inside of a building. I could get that back at the compound."

"Come on! I'll show you!" Bulma exclaimed, jumping to her feet and trotting eagerly into the next room. "In here, Vegita!" she called to him.

Allowing himself only a brief smirk of amusement (which he immediately wiped off of his face so that she wouldn't see it), Vegita casually stood up and sauntered into the large living room. Bulma was standing next to an enormous window covered by Venetian blinds. When Vegita entered, she grabbed onto the cord and pulled. The blinds slid aside, and Vegita was treated to a grand view of the place Bulma had chosen to set up their Capsule house. The large window granted them an excellent view of the lush tropical vegetation surrounding the house, but it gave way in the center to a sandy path leading to a beach of pure white sand. It was edged by a deep blue ocean that stretched out unobstructed for as far as the eye could see. non-impressionable though he was, even Vegita could see what might have attracted Bulma to such a place. Its lush, untouched beauty wasn't entirely wasted on him. Of course, one didn't just mention such things aloud, so he didn't say anything. Rather, he crossed his arms and looked sternly back at Bulma's eager face.

Bulma's countenance dropped almost immediately. "You don't like it?" she asked, biting her lip again. "I… I guess I have your answer then, huh?" she said with a feeble laugh that did nothing to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Vegita growled impatiently, and after uncrossing his arms, he turned to the side a little so that he was looking askance at her. "Whether I waste my time here or at the compound, I suppose it doesn't matter," he grunted indifferently. "I'll stay here. At least this way I won't have to look at that worm again for a few days."

Bulma didn't know why she felt so happy to hear those words, but she did. For some reason, Vegita's deciding to go along with her idea and stay here with her had filled her with such relief and joy that she was unable to put her feelings into words. A sudden, surprising impulse struck her, and she realized that she wanted very much to act on it. What would he do if she did, though? Would he change his mind? She thought about it for a second, but after glancing back up at his impatient, irritated expression and realizing that he might not have agreed just for all of the reasons that he had said, she decided to throw caution to the wind.

Although her first couple of steps were hesitant and awkward, she quickly shook off her indecision and boldly strode over to him. Without giving him a chance to react to her sudden closeness, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her to hug him. It had been a bold, almost reckless move, but it was something that Bulma had sincerely wanted to do, and although she had tried to look at it as logically as she could, there really hadn't been much logic involved in her decision. Some things just couldn't be decided through reason alone.

"Hey! What're you doing?!" Vegita stuttered, having forgotten all about sounding irritated. He had been expecting her to walk past him or maybe attack him playfully, but what she had done had very much taken him by surprise. Expecting her to come to her senses and recoil in horror at any moment, he leaned his head away from hers, which was now leaning on his shoulder. Bulma didn't suddenly decide that she'd made a mistake, however. In fact, she didn't even let go of him. Instead, she held him more tightly and let out a soft chuckle.

"This is my way of saying 'thank you,'" she said gently. "Whether you agreed to stay because you really wanted to, or simply because you didn't want to hurt my feelings, it doesn't make any difference." She leaned back a little so that she could look him in the eyes. Her cheeks were rosy pink because of the unfamiliarity and awkwardness of her actions, but the look on her face was warm and happy. "Either way," she said with a smile, "it was really nice of you, Vegita. Thank you." With that, she closed her eyes, leaned forward, and kissed him ever-so-lightly on his right cheek.

Moments later, she hastily stepped back away from him, and there was no mistaking the astonishment on Vegita's face - nor the flush that had risen in his cheeks. However, the color that had risen in Vegita's visage was pitifully light in comparison to the deep shade of red that had appeared on Bulma's. She had kissed Vegita deliberately of course, but she was nevertheless unable to prevent herself from feeling quite embarrassed and shy about the whole thing. In retrospect she really didn't understand why, but for some reason she had suddenly felt sure that Vegita deserved a kiss for being so agreeable, and that she'd wanted to give him one. Simple though it had seemed at the moment, now that it was over, it had left a veritable maelstrom of emotions careening through Bulma's mind all at once, and she was suddenly quite unsure of what to do with herself.

"For the next few days," she said, trying to sound normal but failing miserably, "this house and this island are yours. Your bedroom is upstairs; it's the room where you woke up. There's a closet full of clothes in there for you too." She was looking down at her feet as she spoke, and rather than subsiding, the color in her cheeks had deepened to a furious shade of crimson. She suddenly felt unbearably shy and uncomfortable in front of him, but she didn't want to leave until she'd at least told him how she'd set things up around here. "My room is down here at the end of the hall. If you need anything at all, just tell me and I'll get it for you." She looked up at him again and tried to smile naturally, despite her awkwardness.

Vegita, his face a mixture of confusion and astonishment, simply nodded his head in reply. Bulma nodded too, and then she turned and walked toward the door.

"I'm um… I'm going to go out for a walk," she announced rather breathlessly. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Feel free to explore the house and the rest of the island while I'm gone. It really is beautiful!" Then, still blushing furiously, she ducked out of the door and disappeared from sight. A few moments later, Vegita saw her appear outside the massive window, running swiftly down the sandy path toward the beach.

"Yes," he murmured. He lightly touched his cheek where she had kissed him. "Beautiful." He watched her turn right as she reached the soft, white sand of the beach, only to disappear behind the thick foliage at its edge.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53: A Nice Guy?**

A half an hour later found Bulma sitting alone out on the beach with her knees pulled to her chest, and much to her frustration, still unable to stop thinking about what had happened between Vegita and herself only a half an hour ago. Having reflected upon her own actions, it had occurred to Bulma that she was no longer afraid of Vegita. For some reason, she just couldn't help feeling happy about that. She halfway wondered if it was a change that she alone had incurred, or if perhaps Vegita had played an active part in bringing it about. In any event, she knew now that the nervous, jumpy feeling she used to get when Vegita looked at her wasn't there anymore. Was that all that it was, though? Could that possibly explain why she'd kissed him?

Bulma bit her lip and tried once again to make sense of it all. She couldn't jump to any conclusions, here. She had to go about this rationally, but how could she possibly think rationally about something when it made her behave so irrationally? A month ago she probably would never even have considered kissing Vegita intentionally, and only a half-hour ago she'd done just that without so much as a second thought, and on top of it all, she still didn't regret doing it. Was it possible that she was beginning to develop actual _feelings_ for Vegita?

"Whoa, calm down, girl," she told herself, covering her face with her hands and shaking her head. "That's enough of that. I don't think you really want to continue with _that_ train of thought." She got up and brushed the sand off of herself before fishing around in her pocket for her little travel capsule case. She picked out a small, pink capsule from it and, punching in the button, tossed it out onto the sand. It popped open to reveal a large stereo system. She typed in the number of one of her favorite music files and hit the select button. Then she walked out onto the open beach and took a couple of deep breaths.

Bulma was about to do something she had thus far done only during her solitary training out in the desert. There was a particular kata she was fond of that fit well to slow, powerful music, and she felt that she desperately needed to do something to work off the nervous energy her musings had given her. It wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes or so, and truthfully, it was no longer like _real_ training to her anyway – not after what she'd gone through with Vegita. Soon the music took off, and so did Bulma, working her way through the same steps she'd taken over a thousand times before.

Bulma had actually developed this kata only a couple years ago – specifically for her training during the time she spent preparing for the Saiyan threat. At that time, it had been near to perfect for her level of development, and it had served its purpose well. It involved intricate chi manipulations and rather dance-like body movements that had made it next to impossible to execute correctly if total concentration wasn't used during its execution. Now, however, she needn't have immersed herself in it so completely to achieve the same levels of success that she had in the past, but she did regardless, as the experience was much richer that way.

Bulma knew it so well by now that, although it still took a fair amount of her concentration to keep all the little energy disks and spheres moving in coordination, she made it look very easy. Despite the fact that it was no more than a martial arts kata designed for a specific purpose (in its case, for chi control and concentration), when Bulma set it in motion, it looked remarkably like a graceful dance of flight and chi energy. Perhaps its grace and beauty was what really struck Bulma's fancy. At any rate, she'd wanted a way to work off some nervous energy, and on impulse, she had decided to revisit her old training kata. It seemed to her to be a logical way to relax herself.

This did indeed seem to Bulma at the time like the logical, reasonable thing to do, but regrettably, she hadn't used much foresight at all. It should again be mentioned that Bulma had only used this kata while she was alone in the desert. She hadn't shown it to anyone – not even to Yamucha. The truth of the matter was that she was a little ashamed of it, and she was shy about showing it to even someone like him. Sure, it had been a proficient enough way to train, but the fact was that Bulma thought it was a little too showy and... for lack of a better word, _sensual _for use in situations where others could see her. The whole thing was almost like an intricate ballet; it sometimes took her into the air, and at other times had her swaying and twirling on the ground.

Despite how fervently Bulma always tried to convince herself that she was indifferent to others' opinions of her, it really wasn't so. Bulma was human, and humans _are_ given to rather irrational tendencies, no matter how rational they may try to be. Bulma was afraid that, if she had shown this kata to anyone, they would have thought she was being presumptuous. She didn't really fancy herself a dancer in any sense, and she'd always figured she was about as graceful as a St. Bernard. However, when she was alone and she did this kata, she could imagine that such wasn't the case, and that she was really a prima ballerina in an intergalactic chi-dance competition. She had always believed it to be such a silly fantasy, but nonetheless, it had always put a smile on her face and a jump in her step whenever she'd executed it correctly.

In any event, Bulma had made a mistake. She hadn't exactly forgotten that Vegita was here on the island with her, but it had never really occurred to her that maybe someone who could sense changes in chi patterns around him might get curious if such a chi pattern was to fluctuate in its intensity rather suddenly. It also hadn't registered that this said person just might decide to investigate in order to satisfy his curiosity. Unfortunately for Bulma, that's precisely what Vegita did.

On his way down the path to the beach, Vegita had figured that he had a fairly good idea as to what he was going to find. He'd assumed that he was going to find Bulma doing some light training down there, and he was just itching to go and tell her off for being such a hypocrite. The scene he found as he stepped out in the open, however, stopped him dead in his tracks and made him forget all about taunting her.

There was Bulma, twirling and sweeping through the air in time to her music, with a myriad of chi balls floating gracefully alongside and past her. While some of them seemed to be chasing her, others seemed more to be moving alongside her, and even guiding her movements. His well-trained eyes could easily see the relatively simple level of dedication and concentration it required of her to keep them in synchronization, but even he couldn't help but notice the grace and beauty of this wondrous display – and of Bulma herself.

Despite her anxieties about being thought silly, Bulma truly did look beautiful when she performed this kata, and in Vegita's eyes she was nothing short of breathtaking. Crossing his arms and leaning up against a nearby palm tree, he watched her silently, as a smile of genuine pleasure slowly spread across his face. It is neither necessary nor proper to go into much detail about what thoughts went through Vegita's mind as he stood there and watched Bulma's beautiful kata play out before him, but it might be mentioned that, had he known beforehand what was to be in store for him today, he might not have given her much trouble at all when she'd asked him to take the week off.

All too soon, Bulma's music began to draw to a close, and as it slowly faded to silence, Bulma allowed each of the chi balls to dissipate and vanish in her choreographed sequence, as she herself slowly floated back down to the sandy earth below her, her eyes only partially open in the serenity of her sweet fantasy. Finally, all was over, and after drawing and releasing a few deep breaths, Bulma turned and recapsulized her stereo. After packing it away in her capsule case, which she stuffed back into her pocket, she began walking back up toward the path. She looked up when she was some ten feet away from him, and she finally noticed that she had an audience.

"Vegita!" she gasped, jumping a little and taking an involuntary step back. "Wha... I never even sensed you!" she exclaimed.

Vegita snorted. "It figures," he said with a sneer. "Your guard was down again, as usual. You make it obscenely easy for someone to sneak up on you."

Bulma bit her lip anxiously. "I didn't really expect that you'd come and watch," she muttered, unable to keep her voice altogether steady. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to watch you make a fool of yourself," he said with a smug grin, turning to the side a little, but still leaning on his tree nonchalantly.

Bulma's face reddened in her embarrassment, and she lowered her eyes. "You weren't supposed to have seen this," she said quietly. She looked very much like she was about to cry.

"Oh, don't be such a fool," Vegita snorted. "Is it really such a matter of great importance?"

"No one's ever seen me do that kata," she replied as her lips began to quiver. She still didn't look up at him. "I've never even shown it to my closest friends. You… you shouldn't have seen it."

Vegita frowned as he stared at her, feeling a little confused and annoyed. What was she getting so upset about? "I still fail to see what your problem is," he said impatiently. "Why should it matter so much if I see you do another kata? I've trained you myself, haven't I?"

Bulma did look up this time. She had steady streams of tears trickling down the sides of her face, but she had a sheepish, laughing expression on her reddened face. "It's such a stupid kata," she laughed, her voice shaking as she fought mightily to keep from sobbing. "I don't know what possessed me to do it here. I know it makes me look like a complete idiot, but I... well, I guess I just wasn't thinking."

Vegita was now quite perceptibly confused and irritated by Bulma's behavior. Why the devil was she crying? He certainly hadn't done anything to her, so what on Earth was so devastating? "Stop blubbering, dammit!" he snapped at her, feeling his temper flare in response to his frustration. "There's absolutely no cause for such drama! What in blazes are you so upset about?"

Bulma shut her eyes tightly and restrained a sob. "I'm sorry," she said shakily through her gritted teeth. "I'm... I'm just being stupid. I'm just so damned embarrassed, because you saw me doing something so ridiculous as that awful kata. Just forget it, Vegita. Excuse me." She ducked her head and hastily walked across the sand in front of him, hoping to retreat to the house and lick her wounds in solitude. Before she could escape the source of her embarrassment, however, he had grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Let me pass!" she muttered without looking up at him. Her voice was strangely shrill and shaky as she spoke. "I'm not in the mood for any of your snide remarks, Vegita!"

"Stop being a coward and listen," he replied quietly. "You don't have any reason to feel embarrassed about my seeing that kata. Quit behaving like such an idiot."

Bulma let out a wry laugh and shook her head. "You're the one who pointed out how foolish I looked," she retorted, lifting her head to glare at him, ignoring the added shame of her tears. "There's no point in contradicting yourself about it, when I know full well how stupid you thought that kata was, and how stupid I looked doing it. Now let me go; I'm going back to the house."

Vegita didn't let her go, but he did shoot her an impatient scowl. "I know what I said," he muttered, turning his face away a little. "Do you have to be so obtuse?"

Bulma was beginning to feel very frustrated. "Vegita, you're not making any sense," she sighed. "You caught me looking like an idiot. Situation normal, right? There's no reason for us to even discuss it anymore, as far as I'm concerned. Do you really enjoy tormenting me so much? Do you want me to _beg_ you to leave me alone, or what?"

Vegita was becoming equally frustrated. Damn her! She just had to go and make him say it, didn't she? "I didn't think you looked like an idiot," he growled at her, realizing with no small degree of frustration that his face had begun to grow warm. "Insufferable fool... I enjoyed it, all right? I couldn't take my blasted eyes off of you. Now stop acting like it's the worst thing in the world, and stop crying, before I give you a real reason for your wretched tears!"

Bulma gaped at him in astonishment. Was he really being serious with her? "You didn't think it was stupid?" she asked him hopefully, her eyes wide and her expression remarkably less miserable. "You're not just saying that, are you, Vegita?"

"Do you think I would just _say_ such a demeaning thing?" he exploded at her. "Damn it all, what does it take to satisfy you, woman?" He let go of her and crossed his arms, turning slightly to the left and scowling fiercely.

Bulma saw the self-conscious anger and embarrassment in his face, and she felt her own cheeks grow warm in response to what he had just admitted to her. All at once, however, his decidedly comical plight suddenly struck her as being one of the funniest things she'd ever seen. Although she tried very hard to resist the impulse, she simply couldn't help it; she laughed. Even after Vegita replied with an angry growl, she still kept laughing. She couldn't stop, despite the fact that Vegita had quickly twisted his face into a horrible, ugly glare.

"What the _hell_ do you find so funny?!" he bellowed, balling his fists angrily and whirling around to face her, as though he were facing off against an enemy – a typical Vegita reaction to any threat, even if it was only one of humiliation.

Bulma somehow managed to suppress her laughter long enough to explain herself to him, although it took her a few seconds to achieve the feat. "I'm sorry, Vegita!" she gasped, clutching at her chest in an effort to catch her breath. "It's just that you… you're so… so… funny!" Another round of giggles overwhelmed her then, and she had to wait for them to subside before she could continue – all the while witnessing the fury in Vegita's expression as it mounted to greater and greater heights. "Oh," she gasped, wiping her eyes dry and fighting off the final round of deep chuckles. "I really am sorry, Vegita! I don't mean to laugh at you, but it's just that your lack of experience at this _really_ shows!"

"What are you babbling about?" Vegita demanded, his patience with her nearly spent. "Just what are you daring to suggest that I lack experience in, you witless harpy?"

Bulma gave a happy sigh and shook her head. "At being a nice guy," she replied with an affectionate smile. "You're trying to be nice to me, Vegita, and it shows that you don't have a lot of practice."

Vegita didn't know whether she was insulting him or thanking him, but he couldn't help thinking that regardless of whichever it was, he ought to feel angry about it. He shot her a withering glare, but what she said next made him forget all about being angry.

"Still," she murmured, looking thoughtfully down and smiling to herself, "it's funny how easily you were able to cheer me up. Maybe you have more of an effect on me than I suspected."

Her eyes opened wide as she realized she'd just said something aloud that ought to have stayed in her head, and her hand flew to her mouth. Had she said it loudly enough for him to hear? She glanced anxiously up at Vegita, unsure of what his reaction to her little slip of the tongue might be. Thankfully though, his irritated expression told her that he seemed not to have heard her.

"Nice indeed," he snorted, scowling at her. "The day I become a 'nice guy' will be the day I lose my taste for punching that idiot Kakarrot in the nose. Don't ever insult me like that again, woman!"

Smiling in relief, Bulma nodded. "Whatever you say, Vegita," she replied. "Just the same," she added, elbowing him playfully before walking away from him, "I still don't think you're as much of a badass as you'd like everyone to think you are."

"Tch," Vegita grunted indifferently, sauntering along behind her and crossing his arms. "Go ahead and lower your guard if you want to. It will be your own undoing."

Bulma bit her lip again. "I wonder..." she thought uncomfortably, thinking that perhaps he could be right, although not in the way he might have had in mind.

- - - - -

Bulma fixed them a nice, large lunch later, and they spent most of the remainder of the afternoon doing separate things. Vegita stepped out without so much as a word after their meal, so Bulma just curled up on the sofa and started in on a nice, thick book. She spent a good two hours with it, but by then she was beginning to get rather restless. She wasn't exactly bored; she just wanted to do something that required actual physical activity. It occurred to her as she got up and looked out the window that although she'd been on this island for almost an entire day, she hadn't yet gone swimming even once. She grinned. It was time to hit the beach!

Bulma went to her room and quickly changed into her bathing suit. Then she went to the hall closet for some sunscreen and a towel, and she hesitated. Should she only get the one towel? Vegita might enjoy a swim too. Shrugging her shoulders, she grabbed two and headed upstairs to his room. "Might as well grab his swimming trunks too then," she said to herself, digging around in his closet for them. She finally found them and went back downstairs. Slipping off her shoes, she ran out the door and trotted down the path toward the beach, humming as she went.

She used her chi sense to locate Vegita out near the western end of the island, where the windward waves crashed into the cliff walls. He was sitting out on one of the rocks amid the crashing waves. His eyes were closed, and he seemed rather deep in concentration. Bulma smiled. "He must be meditating," she thought as she floated out toward him. "I wonder if he's getting a little bored already. Maybe he'd like a swim too."

"Yo, Vegita!" she called, floating out the rest of the way until she was only a few feet away from him. "I'm going swimming. Care to join me?"

Vegita neither looked up nor opened his eyes. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" he growled.

Bulma made a face. He sure looked busy, all right. "Come on, Vegita!" she laughed, using her most persuasive tone of voice. "I know I'll have more fun if I don't have to go alone. Besides, I already brought you your swimming trunks. See?" She held them up for him to see and grinned triumphantly.

Vegita let out an irritated sigh and raised his head to glare at her. When he saw her, his mouth fell open and his eyes seemed to be on the verge of bugging out of their sockets.

"What?" Bulma said when she saw his expression, and she turned around, thinking he had seen something behind her. Finding nothing there, she turned back around and cocked her head to one side, staring back at him curiously. "What's the matter?" she asked the dumbstruck Vegita. He gave her no reply. Instead, he just gaped at her, his eyes darting this way and that, seemingly trying their hardest to take in all the details of her body at once.

Bulma suddenly realized what had stunned Vegita into silence, and she promptly blushed in embarrassment. Bulma's two-piece, pink bikini swimsuit wasn't skimpy or anything, but it gave Vegita a prime opportunity to see a great deal more of Bulma's body than he was accustomed to seeing. Blushing furiously, she clutched the towels a little more closely in an effort to shield herself somewhat from his staring. She couldn't help feeling more than just a little bit self-conscious with him gawking at her so noticeably.

"D-do you have to stare like that?" she stammered, trying to sound more angry than she was uncomfortable. "It's only a swimming suit, Vegita!"

"You wear _that_ when you swim?!" he cried incredulously.

"Well, yes!" Bulma retorted hotly. "What's the big deal?! It's just a two-piece bathing suit! It's not as if I'm wearing a string bikini or anything!" She glared angrily at him, knowing full well that her argument was wasted on him. Vegita was sure to know nothing of string bikinis, and it was entirely possible that the shock of his seeing her in one of _those_ would have knocked him right into the water.

"Anyway," Bulma growled, deciding that if he was going to gawk like that, she wasn't going to hang around any longer. "You're busy, so I won't waste any more of my time on you. I'm going swimming. See you at dinner." She turned to leave, and although he didn't make a move to follow, she thought she had seen a rare look of indecision on his face, and it almost made her grin.

She quickly flew to the other side of the island, where the water was calmer and the beach was prettier. Dropping his towel and trunks without ceremony, she spread her towel out on the sand and stretched her limbs. She stared out at the calm, sapphire blue water of the bay, and she grinned as she watched the waves wash rhythmically up onto the shore and smooth out the sand with their inevitable foamy wash. The temperature was high, and the water looked very inviting. She was going to thoroughly enjoy this.

She took a little time to apply some water-resistant sunscreen, and after getting herself good and greasy (as she liked to put it), she trotted down to the water's edge and splashed out into the outermost reaches of the waves, giggling at the feel of the sand as it washed out from beneath her feet. You couldn't get that kind of sensation anywhere but at the ocean, and she loved it. Still, this was much too tame for what she had in mind. She fired up a little chi and lunged out over the water. She used her chi to skate across the surface in wide, playful arcs, all the while flying farther and farther out. She wanted to go out past the reef that made the calm, beautiful bay beyond the beach, because she wanted to swim in the deeper, more lively reaches beyond it.

Although it was harder to glide across the surface of the water like this than it was to simply fly through the air above it, she didn't mind at all. In fact, thanks to all the harsh training she'd gone through with Vegita, it wasn't at all as difficult as she'd remembered. She very much doubted that she'd get the slightest bit tired after even a few hours of it. At least it didn't lessen the fun factor for her, though. She let out a couple of excited whoops and squeals as she flew ever farther out. What a liberating exercise! The spray of the water as she slid along it flew up behind her, and she occasionally dipped farther down to make greater swells. She was flushed with excitement and laughing happily. She was so glad she had come out here with Vegita!

All at once, she was discovered by a pod of some five or six dolphins, and they soon proved to be more than a little curious about her. They began leaping into the air alongside her, clicking and squeaking at her interestedly. She let out a merry laugh as she wove in and out among them, much to their delight and excitement. They looked so funny as they rolled and curled in mid-leap. She felt an immediate attachment to the plucky animals, and she wanted to play with them in their own turf as well as hers.

"You guys are amateurs," she chuckled, deciding that it was as good a time as any to dive all the way in. "Make way, mateys!" She leaped into the water and used the added force of her chi to propel herself down, grinning as the excited, astonished dolphins scattered to avoid her. They quickly recovered, though, and it wasn't long before they all dove down after her. They weren't about to let her get the better of them!

She wanted to laugh at them, but it was kind of difficult to do, considering the fact that she was zooming around under about twenty feet of seawater. Instead, she looped back and began zigzagging around in between their ranks, poking them and ducking away whenever one tried to poke or nip at her with a blunt, clicking nose. They must have thought she was fun to play with, because as she soared back to the surface and plunged back into the air, they all jumped up after her, squeaking and leaping impressively high in their efforts to outdo her. She couldn't help egging them on a little as they tried to intimidate her with their flapping fins, and she laughed when she allowed one to brush an eager fin against her, causing him to wiggle his head and squeak at her triumphantly upon reemerging from the water.

"Ha ha ha!" she laughed happily, dropping back down into the water and splashing playfully at them. She tackled one and flung him up into the air a few feet, laughing again as he splashed back into the water and immediately came back to her to bump her with his nose. The rest of his cohorts joined forces with him, and they all began pushing against Bulma with their snouts, herding her through the water and tickling her abdomen with their prodding noses.

"Stop it!" she squealed, shoving them down and leaping over the top of them. They must have figured they'd beaten her then, because they all raced in a tight circle around her, leaping into the air and clicking triumphantly. "Oh my goodness," she gasped, trying hard to focus on treading water as she recovered from her laughter. "This is the first time I've ever been able to swim with dolphins! I can see now why so many people do it; you guys are a riot!"

"Are you regularly in the habit of playing with your food?" she heard a scornful voice jeer at her from above. As Bulma looked up to find Vegita smirking derisively at her, she sensed every one of her dolphin buddies dive down into the water and speed away. Vegita had obviously spooked them. She let out an impatient groan at him.

"Vegita, why do you have to be such a jerk? Those creatures aren't food! They're some of the most intelligent animals on the planet! Besides, they were having fun, and I was having fun with them. I don't see any problem with that. Until you came along and scared them off with that ugly mug of yours, we were having a lovely time, too."

Vegita smirked at her again. "Too bad," he said indifferently. "You'll just have to go attract some more mindless beasts to play with, won't you? As for me, I see this as a prime opportunity to catch something substantial for supper. Unlike you, I swim with a purpose."

"Yeah, and I just swim with a porpoise," Bulma chuckled, unable to stop herself. She grinned when he frowned at her, having not understood her pun. "Anyway," she continued, "you can do some fishing if you want, but we've got plenty of food back at the house already. I brought enough to feed a small army, and I doubt we'll even use half of it. Knowing your appetite, though, I thought it better to be safe than sorry."

He snorted again and folded his arms as he smirked down at her. When he didn't say anything, her attention was drawn to the way his roving eyes were studying her with marked interest. She realized that he was looking her over again, and she grimaced uncomfortably as she felt her face flush in embarrassment.

"By the way," she said, frowning first at him and then up at the beach, where his trunks and towel still were. "I thought you were busy. Why'd you come out here?"

"Do I need your permission to swim?" Vegita asked her, his voice letting her know just how much he hoped she'd say yes, so that he could prove her wrong. She sighed and shook her head at him.

"Of course not," she grumbled. "I just figured you really meant it when you claimed to be busy. Never mind; if you want to swim, then swim. I left your swimsuit up on the beach with your towel. Why don't you go change into it?"

Vegita glanced up at the beach and then glared at her with an irritated frown. "Change?" he said loudly. "I can just as easily swim in my own clothes, can't I? Why the devil should I change my garment just to swim?"

"Yes, you can swim in those clothes if you want," Bulma said with an annoyed groan, glaring at his combination of leggings and tank top scornfully as she tried with all her might to retain a shred of patience, "but then they'll get wet. This way, when we're done swimming, your clothes will still be dry, and I'll be more willing to let your sorry carcass back into the house!" she snapped at him.

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "You humans concern yourselves with such ridiculous trifles."

Bulma let out an irritated groan. "Oh, all right!" she exclaimed. "I don't care, then! Do what you want, Vegita! Just do it away from me!" With that she took off, kicking up some nice, large swells as she skirted the surface of the water with her chi aura and quickly flew farther out to sea – and farther away from the annoying Saiyan.

"Stupid Vegita," she grumbled, slowing only when she was sure she was a good mile away. "He calls _me_ thick, but he sure doesn't have much sense when it comes to convenience! Feh. Better to just forget him. I'm going to have some more fun out here, and even he won't be able to ruin it!"

She now began to fly upwards, and she didn't stop until she was close to two hundred feet in the air. She hovered for a second or two, and with a loud whoop, she suppressed her chi and let gravity take over. As she plummeted toward the water, she curled herself into a tight ball. Finally, she hit the water, making what was quite possibly the largest cannonball splash in all of human history. Some ten seconds later, she resurfaced, grinning and breathing heavily, but still brimming with energy. The sun was setting, but she was just beginning!

Bulma made several more monstrous cannonballs before deciding to do some normal swimming, diving deeply and exploring the ocean bottom, despite the discomfort of the salty water in her eyes. When at last she could no longer see anything clearly down there, the sun was nearly below the horizon, and she had finally begun to grow bored of her lone activity. It was time to head back to shore.

Bulma made her way back with slow, deliberate strokes, taking her time as she enjoyed the warm, gentle rise and fall of the water. As she made her way over the reef and into the bay, she realized that she could see a figure alone up on the beach. Vegita was just sitting up there on his towel, watching her make her way in toward him. Bulma wondered why he hadn't entered the water yet. Her curiosity was too great to let her just float aimlessly and wonder. She was going to find out!

She swam farther in until she could touch the bottom, and then she walked the rest of the way to the beach. Of course, flying would have gotten her there in a fraction of the time this took her, but she was still enjoying the water, and besides, it wouldn't do to appear overly interested. She didn't want him to get the idea that she cared one way or the other if he swam with her, even though part of her hoped that he would. She had had enough of swimming alone, and she was kind of hoping he'd play with her, or at least race her once or twice. She had really meant it when she'd told him that she preferred to swim with others.

Vegita was sitting straight-legged on his towel, and as Bulma walked up to him, she noticed that he had changed into the trunks she'd given him. She felt a slight chill as she realized that he really did look good in those. Although he was staring at her, she was staring back at him just as much. This was more of Vegita's body than she was accustomed to seeing too.

"Hey," she said affably, trying to act as though she hadn't really been staring at him at all. She walked up and sat down on the towel beside his and wrung out her hair onto the sand. "So were you planning on swimming at all? There's not much daylight left, and the jellyfish here are extremely poisonous. Not that I care or anything, but you might prefer to discover one with your eyes before it discovers your skin." She imagined Vegita getting stung by a jellyfish and couldn't help grinning. Maybe it'd surprise him enough to make him blow up the bay or something. Woe be unto any jellyfish that dared to drag its tentacles across _his_ skin.

Vegita must have felt the same way, because he grunted disapprovingly at her. He shot her a mild look of scorn, but he allowed his gaze to linger on her for longer than she would have preferred. A breeze hit her wet skin, and she shivered and looked away from him.

"I see you changed after all," she said, not looking up. "I think I made a good choice when I packed those things. You look pretty good in swimming trunks." She was halfway into looking up at him again when she realized what she had said, and she promptly turned nice and red as she quickly turned her face away again.

Vegita smirked. Her slip of the tongue hadn't been wasted on him. "Feel free to look as much as you like," he drawled at her. "I certainly have no objections to it, considering the fact that you find me so alluring."

Still quite red in the face, Bulma looked back up at him with an angry smile. "The shorts look great on you, all right," she retorted. "They really help to shift the focus away from that repulsive face of yours." She stuck her tongue out at him for added emphasis.

"Hmph!" Vegita snorted. Regardless of her insult, though, his smirk didn't go away.

"So if you aren't going to swim, what are you going to do?" Bulma asked him testily. "What was the point of putting those on if you didn't intend to swim in them?"

"Did I say I didn't intend to swim?" Vegita asked innocently. "I certainly don't recall."

Bulma rolled her eyes in exasperation. The conceited jerk was probably waiting for an invitation or something! Well, she certainly wasn't going to beg. If he wanted to swim, he could come in when he wanted to. Otherwise, he could just stay here, for all she cared. It made no difference to her!

"Fine," she growled. "If you do decide to swim, then do it, but sitting here with you is making me nothing but angry, so I'm going back in." With that, she promptly took to the air and flew out over the water.

Vegita watched her dive in and come back up. Grinning devilishly, he got up and flew leisurely out after her. He didn't get more than halfway out before Bulma spotted him and scowled.

She watched Vegita warily, her expression becoming ever more sour and agitated. If that jerk thought he was going to just sashay on up to her and begin swimming next to her, he had another thing coming. Using long, powerful strokes, she swam farther out in an effort to put more distance between him and herself. She looked back when she'd gone a couple of leagues out, and she scowled again. He had entered the water by now, and he was casually following along behind her, pretending not to be swimming in any one particular direction, but ambling more and more closely nonetheless.

She was about to swim away from him some more, but all at once a devious, sneaky idea occurred to her, and she grinned sinisterly. Oh yes. This was the perfect opportunity to teach him a lesson for being such a jerk. He had entered her territory now; Bulma may not have been as strong as he was, but she was sure she was a better swimmer. The fact that he had hesitated for so long to enter the water was all the proof she needed for that. As she sensed him advance slowly upon her from behind, she tensed her muscles and focused her chi. Vegita was in for a big surprise, all right!


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54: Race Called on Account of Jellyfish**

Bulma took a few casual strokes forward before languidly sliding herself down beneath the surface. Once she was submerged, she immediately shot down to the bottom, where her chi would be harder for him to detect, and she sped toward Vegita until she was directly below him. Then, after floating up a bit, she grabbed onto one of his feet and yanked him down a good ten feet into the water.

Expecting to have caught him off guard, Bulma turned to swim away, grinning from ear to ear. She realized much too late, however, that Vegita must have been ready for her. The very moment she turned around, she didn't even have time to kick off before she felt one of his hands clamp around her right ankle and give it a sharp yank. Bulma let out an underwater cry of alarm and didn't get a chance to do anything else, as before she knew what was happening, Vegita had shot straight up out of the water, pulling her along behind him by her foot.

Thrashing about for all she was worth and screaming bloody murder, Bulma immediately let Vegita know through several very colorful expletives that she was _not_ amused by his antics. "Let go of me right now, you barbaric cretin!" she screeched, charging her chi and firing a small blast at him, which he swatted away as though it was nothing more bothersome than a fly or a beetle. "I swear that the next meal you eat by me will be your last unless you release my foot this instant!"

Grinning evilly at her, Vegita did as she asked, and then Bulma fell – still screaming – rather awkwardly back into the water. Coughing and spluttering, she resurfaced a few moments later in no better a mood. She glared menacingly at him as he lowered himself back into the water no more than ten feet away from her, grinning smugly at her and daring her with his eyes to make the next move.

"Okay, you've had your fun, you asshole," she growled, "so why don't you just turn yourself around and stay the _hell_ away from me!"

"I seem to remember your saying something about having more fun when you didn't have to swim alone. I wouldn't want to deprive you of that," Vegita shot back with a sneer.

"Oh, you want me to have _fun_, huh?" Bulma said, focusing her telekinetic powers on a large area of water behind him. "Then go soak your head, you jerk!" With that, she forced a nice two-foot thick wall of water up and over his head. It landed on top of him with a loud splash, and he popped up out of it, drenched but entirely undaunted.

"Fun loves company!" he cried, leaping forward and dunking her several feet into the water.

"That's it!" she yelled when she came back up. "You're dead meat, Vegita!" She stopped time and reached down into the water, grabbing one of his feet and leaping into the air, dragging him up behind her by his foot. When she had flown a few feet above the surface, she clamped her hands around both his ankles and dunked him under the water, submerging the entire top half of his body, until the surface of the water was about even with his waist. After chuckling evilly, she resumed time's flow and waited to see how he'd react to his sudden change of environment.

She didn't have to wait long. A mass of bubbles erupted down there, and before Bulma even had any idea what was going on, she was yanked down into the water by her arms. She let go of his ankles in her surprise, but her momentum had already been achieved, and she had crashed into the water at blinding speed, letting out a surprised yell when she was already a full ten feet down. Vegita had pulled her down with unparalleled speed, and she knew that she had sorely underestimated his submarine abilities. Damn him! Why did he always have to be so much better than she was at things like this? It wasn't fair at all!

She was about to shoot up to the surface to get a fresh lungful of air and come up with a new strategy, but she never got the chance. Before she could make even the first kick, she was grabbed from behind and dragged down another ten feet. She lost a lot of air from her frantic exclamations, and she clawed angrily at the powerful arms that were linked around her middle, pinning her own arms to her sides and weighing her down like an anchor. In a final act of desperate fury, she swung her head forward before snapping it back as hard as she could. She barely grazed the side of his face, however, as he had anticipated her maneuver and tilted his head to one side to avoid it.

Bulma knew she had run out of options. She didn't know how long Saiyans could hold their breath, but she knew that she couldn't hold what little she had left much longer. She did the only thing she could think to do and stopped time. After breaking loose of his grip, she shot like a bullet toward the surface, gasping loudly when she broke out into the air. Panting a little, she flew up out of the water entirely and let time flow again. Moments later, Vegita resurfaced, and she threw a small chi blast at the water in front of him, hoping to cause it to erupt in his face as he drew in his breath. Unfortunately, she failed miserably, as he quickly spun around to avoid the burst of water.

Although she hadn't once been able to get the better of him, Bulma couldn't help but grin. She hated to admit it, but this was starting to be a little fun. She crossed her arms and raised her nose at him, trying to look superior as she hovered over him. "Pitiful," she jeered at him, doing her best Vegita impression. "You think a weakling like _you_ can subdue _me_, the mighty Bulma? Ha! Don't make me laugh!"

Vegita must have realized what she was doing, but he didn't seem to find it all that insulting. "I would be happy to demonstrate several methods for doing just that," he jeered back, smirking and flying up out of the water until he was at eye level with her. "You're going to regret challenging me, woman."

Bulma laughed at him. "Oh yeah? Well, do your worst, you spiky-haired twerp!" She shot him a challenging grin before shooting past him out over the water, flying at terrific speed and quickly leaving the island far behind her. She didn't have to look behind her to tell that Vegita was quickly gaining ground on her. Chuckling evilly, she stopped time and shot back around to where he was, smirking in turn as she saw the confident smirk on his face. "This'll knock his ego down a few notches," she chuckled, pushing him down toward the water until he was only a foot or so above it, nearly horizontal with it. She positioned her feet on the back of his neck and his lower back, and she allowed time to pick up where it left off.

As she had expected, Vegita kept flying forward, and she slammed him down into the water, whooping in triumph as he skipped across its surface, acting as her very own Vegita surfboard. "Cowabunga!" she cried, deftly kicking off of him as he regained his control and propelled himself back up into the air.

"You'll pay dearly for that!" he snarled, angry that she'd actually gotten one in on him. "I hope you're prepared to face the consequences, you disrespectful female!"

"Nyah!" Bulma taunted him, making a face and sticking her tongue out at him. "Consequences, shmonsequences! You're just a sore loser! Without high gravity to keep me in check, I've got a lot more tricks up my sleeves, Vegita!"

She had barely uttered the words when she found herself sailing backwards. She was flying so quickly that she wasn't even able to scream, as the wind whipped all the sound away. All at once, she came to a jarring stop, and she let out a grunt as she slammed into something solid behind her.

"Why didn't you use one of your tricks to save you?" she heard a soft, growling voice ask her beside her ear. "Do you realize that in that length of time I could have easily snapped your neck?"

Bulma realized that Vegita had a tight hold on her neck and her waist, and that he must have grabbed her and shot through the air with her, as they were much closer to the island than they had been before. She grunted a bit as she squirmed in his arms, but after finding his grip on her like iron, she let out a laugh. "You're such an asshole, Vegita," she chuckled, stopping time and extricating herself from his arms. She twirled around behind him and put him in the same body lock. "You really know how to spoil my fun, you know that?"

"Don't blame me for your own weaknesses," he snorted derisively, seemingly unconcerned that the tables had turned on him. "What did you expect me to do? Just roll over and let you think you'd won?"

"Hey, now there's an idea!" she laughed, tightening her grip on his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder. "You haven't tried that tactic out on me yet. Why don't you try it now and see how well it works? Might do you some good to lose to me once in a while!"

"Empty-headed weakling," Vegita grunted dismissively, wrenching her arms away from him – and nearly out of their sockets – and flipping her over his head and down into the water. She let out a shout of surprise before she fell in, but she soon came right back up, shaking the water out of her face and grinning at Vegita, who had dropped down into the water a few yards away from her.

"Don't hold your breath," he said scornfully, shooting her a serious frown. "I don't feign defeat for anyone, much less a pathetic little weakling like you. I'm not going to make any exceptions, either."

"It was just a thought," Bulma laughed, making another face at him. Shrugging amiably, she kicked away from him a little and floated face-up, letting the waves carry her up and down along their backs. She noticed that it had already gotten rather dark, and that many of the stars had come out. "It's going to be a pretty night," she remarked, gazing peacefully up at the young night sky. "There isn't a single cloud up there, is there?"

"Hmph," Vegita grunted, eying her as she bobbed atop the water. He wasn't exactly paying a great deal of attention to the sky.

Bulma yawned. "Oh well," she said, stretching her limbs and righting herself again. "I guess I'm ready to head back in. Want to race me back?"

Vegita smirked at her. "You don't give up, do you?" he replied scornfully. "You'd think you would have learned by now that you simply can't defeat me."

"You're too serious," Bulma laughed, splashing at him. "It's just a little friendly competition!" Before he could reply, she was off, speeding toward the beach at an incredible rate.

She looked back at him after only a few seconds and was pleased to see that she was well in the lead. He had taken off after her all right, but she was still way ahead of him.

"Nyaah!" she taunted him, pulling an eyelid down and sticking her tongue out at him. She treaded water a little bit just to tease him some more, and then she turned to sprint the rest of the way to the beach. When she kicked her feet, however, she felt something soft and squishy brush against her legs, and suddenly her left foot felt like it had been set afire.

Letting out a sharp yell of pain, Bulma tried to shoot up out of the water, but her afflicted leg couldn't support her when she tried to fly on it, so she only succeeded in achieving a lopsided leap out of the water and a clumsy flop back in. Swimming back up to the surface with her arms, she screamed as she kicked her feet and felt a surge of agony rush up her leg. Something had gotten her; that much was certain. She had begun to worry that she ought to get out of the water before it got her again, too.

"Get out of the water, Vegita!" she shrieked, coughing as she dipped below the surface and inhaled a mouthful of water. "Something's stung my leg! There may be more of them down there! Augh!"

She allowed herself to dip below the surface again, but only for a few moments. She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. Even slightly moving her foot sent agonizing, stabbing pains up her leg. Carefully trying to keep from moving her left leg, she slowly began to lift herself out of the water, using her arms as the flight supports so that she wouldn't have to move her legs. It was a more difficult way to fly, but it would have been fairly simple for Bulma under normal conditions, given the rigorous training she'd undergone, coupled with the degree of control she had over her own chi energy. In this instance however, her task had been made very difficult, due to the fact that any degree of movement in her foot caused her excruciating pain that made her lose her concentration, and it took all Bulma had to keep that foot still. She could only succeed in lifting herself at a snail's pace.

By now, Vegita had caught up to her, and he treaded water some five feet away from her, not sure what to make of her odd behavior. Was this all some sort of trick to delay him and win the race? He had heard her frantic cries about something attacking her leg, but she didn't appear to be struggling against any large sea creatures down there. What in blazes was she up to?

"What are you doing?" he asked her warily, swimming around in front of her to look at her face. It was then that he noticed her drawn, pale expression. She looked like she was in terrible pain!

"Something's wrong with my left foot," she whispered harshly through gritted teeth. "It feels as though it's on fire. Dammit Vegita, I told you to get out of the water! There may be more of whatever did this to me down there! Oh man, this hurts!"

Vegita looked more than a little concerned. She had a fairly high threshold for pain, so whatever it was that was plaguing her must have been very severe to make her act like this. "You're moving weirdly. Why are you having so much difficulty when it's just the one foot?"

"Simply moving it is excruciating," she cried, losing her focus and falling back into the water. She let out an agonized yell at the response this incurred in her foot. "I've never felt pain like this before! I can't focus my chi like this... God, I'm so pathetic! Dammit... would you just get the hell out of the water and leave me be, already? You're distracting me!"

Scowling in frustration, Vegita swam up to Bulma and after grabbing her gently about the waist, pulled her up against him. She let out a cry of agony as she accidentally kicked him with her afflicted foot, and tears of pain squeezed out of her tightly shut eyes.

"What are you doing?!" she cried angrily, grabbing his arms and yanking at them, but finding his hold on her very solid indeed. "This is no time to play around, Vegita! I'm really hurting, here!"

"Put your arm around my neck," he ordered sternly, ignoring her rebuke as he let go of her with one of his arms and brought it down behind her thighs. He slid his arm down her legs and looped it under her knees before gently pulling them up toward the surface.

Bulma realized what he was doing. "Aw, come on, Vegita!" she groaned. "Is this really necessary?"

He glared impatiently at her. "Just do what I say and stop being so difficult!" he demanded. "Can't you do something the simple way for once?"

Glaring indignantly at him, Bulma scowled and did as he asked. She curled her left arm around his neck and looked up at him expectantly.

"Now what?" she asked coldly.

"Now relax," he ordered. "I'm going to fly you back to the beach. Don't struggle."

Rolling her eyes as she wondered who in their right mind would struggle under such conditions, she nodded and let him lean her back into the water. Once he had a secure hold around both her shoulders and her knees, he carefully flew them both out of the water. Bulma drew in a sharp breath and winced as she accidentally knocked her legs together on their way out of the water.

"It hurts more now than it did earlier," she told him quietly, her face very pale as she clutched at his neck with both arms. "I think it may be getting worse with time."

"Just relax," he ordered calmly. "We're almost there."

He flew out over the beach and landed next to the beach towels. He gently set Bulma down on one of them.

Wincing, Bulma sat up and looked at her leg. "Oh no," she groaned when she saw the telltale, jagged red streaks encircling the greater part of her left foot. "Chiropsalmus Quadrigatus."

"What?" Vegita said, looking nervously at her foot.

Bulma shot him a wry grin and shook her head. "Remember how I warned you about the jellyfish?" she chuckled angrily. "Well, it appears that I don't heed my own warnings. It's a sea wasp, Vegita – a box jellyfish. They can be dangerous to people who are allergic to their toxin, and those who are run a terrible risk swimming in these waters. Fortunately for me, though, I'm not allergic. I've been tested before." She looked up at Vegita and tried to smile, but the searing pain was bringing tears to her eyes.

"Hmph. So what will happen to _you_, then?" Vegita asked, making a not-so-convincing effort to sound unconcerned.

"Very little if we act quickly," Bulma assured him, "but I'm going to need your help."

Vegita gave her an impatient grunt. "Just tell me what I have to do," he demanded.

"Thank you," she said with a pained smile. "First and foremost, I need to get what's left of the tentacles off of my foot. The remains can still inject venom if we don't do this the right way. I'm afraid I have to ask you to carry me into the house; the stuff I need is in the kitchen, and I can't possibly walk on my foot with it like this."

"Fine," he replied immediately, and he bent over and gingerly picked her back up off the ground. Bulma promptly let out a sharp yelp of pain.

"What is it?" Vegita barked. "What'd I do?"

Bulma forced a smile and shook her head. "It's not your fault," she said shakily. "Any movement of that leg is like a dagger running through it. I was lucky, though. Sea wasp stings can be fatal, even if you aren't allergic to the venom – provided the coverage from the tentacles is great enough. The little sucker only managed to sting my foot. I'll live, but that isn't going to mean anything to me for a little while. The pain of these stings is considered by many people to be the most excruciating form of pain known on our planet. Even a little area like this is more pain than I can ever remember feeling."

Vegita snorted as he floated through the air with her. "Maybe it just seems so," he said with a frown. "Perhaps you're overlooking that little love tap Freeza gave you on Namek. You survived that, and I know you can't have forgotten it."

Bulma laughed shakily. "I went into shock almost immediately," she said with a wry smile. "I didn't feel all that much. When he killed me, I didn't have much time to focus on the pain anyway, so that isn't comparable to this, either. Isn't it sad that a little brainless creature from my own planet could reduce me to this, even after all I've endured from Freeza? Little bugger probably got away alive too," she added with a weak laugh.

Vegita just snorted again. They had arrived at the capsule house now. After landing just outside the door, he opened it with one of his feet, and he carried her into the kitchen. She asked him to set her down in a chair at the table, and he did so.

"All right," she said, shifting so that she was sitting with her legs out from the table. "First, I'm going to need a bucket. There's one in the cabinet under the sink," she said, pointing to the cabinet. "Yes, that's it," she said when he picked the bucket up. He brought it to her, and she gingerly set her foot down inside it.

"Now," she said, wincing as another excruciating round of pains shot up her leg. "I need the bottle of vinegar from the left cabinet above the stove." She pointed to that cabinet, and Vegita went to it and opened the cabinet door.

"Which one is it?" he asked impatiently. "Woman, there's too many damn bottles in here!"

"Calm down, Vegita!" Bulma said, keeping her voice as calm and soothing as she could through the biting pain. "It's the white one in the middle… there! That's it." He grabbed it and brought it to her, scowling down at it as if it had deliberately hidden itself from him.

"Thanks, Vegita," she said, smiling at him again. She took the cap off and gritted her teeth as she slowly poured its contents over her foot. The fierce burning brought more tears to her eyes, and she whimpered a little too.

Vegita watched on, folding his arms and frowning impatiently at her. "What is that stuff?" he asked her gruffly.

"Vinegar," Bulma said through her tightly gritted teeth. "It's a weak acid that's usually used for cooking, but in my case, it's going to prevent the nematocysts on these tentacles from discharging any more toxin into my foot."

"What language are you speaking, anyway?" Vegita demanded impatiently. "What the hell is a nematocyst?"

Bulma shook her head and chuckled softly. "Sorry," she said. "I used to read a lot of books about animals when I was a kid, and I read a few on jellyfish. What it boils down to is that this stuff is going to keep the remains of that creature from doing me any more damage. Now," she said, having emptied the bottle and set it up on the table. "I need you to get me one more thing."

"What?"

"In the bathroom down the hall," Bulma explained, "there's a first aid kit. It's under the sink in there, and it's a white box with a red cross on it. You'll see it as soon as you open the cabinet door."

Vegita nodded and stalked swiftly off to the bathroom. He returned about half a minute later with the first aid kit. "Here," he said, handing it to her.

Bulma took it and smiled. "Thanks Vegita," she said, nodding at him appreciatively. "That's all I'll need from you. You don't have to hang around if you don't want to. I'm sorry I've inconvenienced you like this, and I have all I need now, so you can do something else if you want to."

Vegita snorted impatiently. "Just get on with what you're doing," he said, crossing his arms and scowling. "I'm staying."

Bulma looked up at him with a rather confused expression for a few moments, but then she shrugged and opened the box. She figured he was curious to find out what she was going to do with the first aid kit, and just didn't want to admit it.

"Here we go," she said, finally locating the tweezers. She took them out of the box and set the rest of the kit up on the table. "Now comes the fun part," she said with a grimace. "I get to remove the souvenirs that the little blob left me."

One by one, Bulma peeled the remnants of the jellyfish's tentacles from her throbbing foot. "There," she sighed finally, as the last one was removed and dropped into the bucket. "Stubborn little buggers, but I think I got 'em all."

"So now what?" Vegita asked. Bulma pushed the bucket of vinegar and jellyfish pieces aside and tested putting a little weight on her foot. She drew in a sharp breath and quickly withdrew it.

"Damn," she said angrily through gritted teeth. "I know how to treat a jellyfish sting, but one thing I don't know is how long the pain is supposed to last. I'm not going to be good for much around here for a while, or at least until the pain goes away enough for me to be able to walk again." She looked up at Vegita dejectedly.

"I'm sorry Vegita," she said, folding her hands in her lap and letting out an angry sigh. "I won't be able to make you a suitable dinner tonight – not in this condition. You'll be better off flying home and asking Mom to whip you up something. Maybe it's better that way," she said with a forced laugh. "My lousy cooking most likely would have poisoned you in the end anyway."

Vegita snorted. "Dream on," he said with a sneer. "If you think you can rid yourself of me so easily, then you're most certainly suffering from delirium."

"Huh?" Bulma said, looking up at him. She met his gaze with her own, and he turned to the side a little to avoid it.

"I still need you to fix my gravity machine, of course," he said with a hasty scowl at her. "Don't think I've forgotten about that. You're not getting off the hook because of some pitiful excuse like this."

Bulma smiled and shook her head. "There's no need to worry about that," she said gently. "I asked my mom before we left to give Dad a message for me. _He's_ going to fix it in a couple of days. You won't need me for that."

Vegita scowled more deeply. There went his excuse. Damn her! She really had a nasty habit of making him say things that he didn't like saying aloud. "I'm not leaving," he growled quietly.

Bulma eyed him in befuddlement. Why was he acting so strangely? "But Vegita!" she protested. "There's no point in it! I've already said I won't be able to cook you any decent meals – at least not tonight, anyway!"

"I've been all over this island," he replied testily, still not looking back at her, "and there are plenty of fish in the water, as well as ample fruit growing on the trees. There's more than enough out here to sustain me for a good couple of weeks if need be. I'm not concerned about finding food."

Bulma looked helplessly up at him. Why was he being so stubborn about this? Surely he could see there wasn't any reason for him to stay! "But why…?" she began.

"Why do you think?" Vegita snapped, cutting her off and glaring fiercely at her. The look in his eyes was enough to tell anyone that no one was going to be changing his mind on the matter.

It took a couple more seconds, but then all at once, it clicked. Bulma's eyes met his, and finally she understood. She blushed then, and she looked down at her hands uncomfortably.

"Oh," she said, fumbling with her fingers and biting her lip. "Well, I mean, I'll be all right, you know," she stammered, really beginning to fidget. "I'm not allergic to the toxin, so it only needs to work its way out of my system and I'll be as good as new. Y-you don't really have to stay here with me."

"Be that as it may," he said quietly, staring fiercely at her. "I'm not leaving, so you just might as well get used to the idea."

Bulma was still blushing furiously, but she bravely looked up at him anyway. She studied his stern, determined face for a few moments, and then she couldn't help but smile. Despite the sharp, bossy way he was putting it, Vegita was only staying to assure himself that she'd be all right. She hadn't realized that he could feel that much concern for anyone, even if it was someone he "wanted." What was truly amazing was that the thought didn't make her all that uncomfortable. It actually felt kind of… well, kind of _nice_.

"All right Vegita," she murmured, looking down again but still smiling faintly. "If that's what you really want, then I won't try to talk you out of it. I just didn't want to be too much of a bother to you."

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "If that could have dissuaded me, I never would have offered to train you. That's all you always are anyway," he said, turning away a bit. "A bother."

Bulma chuckled softly. "Maybe you're right," she replied. "I guess I don't really know how to be anything else, when it comes to you."

"Hmph," was all Vegita said in reply.

Bulma yawned. She was beginning to feel drowsy. It was kind of late, after all, and she'd done a lot of swimming. She looked toward the kitchen door and frowned. Now how the heck was she going to get to her room? She definitely couldn't climb the stairs as she was. Perhaps she ought to consider sleeping on the sofa tonight. Tomorrow her foot might be better, and then she could worry about going upstairs to her room.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Vegita walked over and, swiftly but gently, lifted her into his arms. He then began walking toward the stairs with her.

"What are you doing?" she gasped in surprise, involuntarily clutching at his neck out of fear of his dropping her.

"Taking you to bed," he replied. Bulma lost a little color then, and she stared at him in silent shock. He shot her an impatient scowl. "Your left leg is useless to you, and you've already shown how pitiful you've become in regards to walking," he snapped. "What were you planning to do? Drag yourself up to your room on your belly?"

"Oh," Bulma replied with a rather shaky but relieved laugh. "I see. Er… sorry to put you out like this, Vegita."

"Don't apologize," he growled. "I've already told you that apologies are a sign of weakness, and I don't appreciate having to repeat myself. You're no more of a bother to me now than you usually are, so you can just drop it, understand?"

She let out a weary sigh of defeat, and then she nodded and closed her eyes. Despite his harsh tone of voice and resentful choice of words, Bulma was certain that Vegita really didn't mind doing this for her. Oddly enough, she wasn't altogether uncomfortable with letting him do it, either. As he began ascending the stairs with her, she unconsciously laid her head on his shoulder and held a little more tightly to his neck. There was just something so comfortable about the way he held her as he carried her up to her room, and at the moment, she was too sleepy to think about it too deeply. She sighed again.

"What's the matter?" Vegita asked her rather gruffly, his sudden question jerking her back somewhat from the half-asleep state she had retreated into.

"Nothing," she yawned at him, settling her head down on his shoulder again. "Nothing at all."

Vegita was quite aware of Bulma's head on his shoulder, and he was also very much aware of the feel of her breath on his neck, and how tightly she was clinging to him. He had to admit that they weren't things that he entirely disliked. Unfortunately, much as he might have preferred to linger in the hallway and hold her like this, they had arrived at her room. He carried her over to her bed and, after pulling the blanket back with the toes on his left foot, he gently set her down upon the mattress – an act which forced her to return to the land of the conscious, much as she would have liked to avoid that.

Bulma yawned as she shifted herself a bit to make herself more comfortable, but she cut her yawn short with a sharp breath as she laid her stung foot down on the mattress. She was really awake now. Gritting her teeth, she slowly managed to shift her legs into position and then she pulled the blanket over herself.

"I'll just sleep in my swimsuit tonight," she thought as she realized that both she and Vegita were still in their swim wear. "I can't change right now anyway."

Vegita lingered for a moment longer, and then he turned to leave. Thinking that she ought to at least say _something_, Bulma steeled her nerves and spoke.

"Vegita!" she called out to him, her voice sounding a little more timid than she would have liked. He hesitated in the doorway and turned to glance back at her. "Um… I just wanted to thank you," she said, flushing a little but smiling sincerely just the same. "I-I'm happy you're going to stay with me after all."

Vegita shot her a challenging smirk. "That'll change soon enough," he grunted. "Shut up and go to sleep." With that, he turned off her light, stepped out of the room, and then quietly shut the door behind him.

Bulma yawned again and snuggled farther down inside her blanket. What a strange day it had been! She had some disquieting thoughts to mull over; that was for sure! One thing was certain – there was definitely something going on around here that she didn't understand, and it certainly wasn't any old jellyfish sting. That she could attribute to bad luck and bad judgment.

Vegita, on the other hand, was something far different. She grimaced as she tried not to linger on the memory of how comfortable and warm it had felt in his arms. Simply allowing it to flash in her mind had immediately filled her with a strange, shuddering sensation, and she decided at once that she was afraid of the feeling. All the same, his actions had been very strange, and _they_ warranted some consideration, even if her own unfamiliar emotions didn't.

Why had Vegita acted so strangely? It was hard for her to imagine a guy like Vegita being gentle with anything, much less with her, and yet he'd taken such great pains to make her more comfortable. It had definitely been odd. To think that the man could act so out of character all of the sudden! Strange or not, though, she had to admit she hadn't exactly resented it. She had actually kind of _liked_ it.

Bulma opened her eyes again, and her face paled a little. What was going on here? Why did it seem that all she could think about lately was Vegita? Okay, so she wasn't afraid of him anymore. That was fine. She could deal with that, but certainly she wasn't really starting to _like_ him or anything, was she? The thought made her feel a little panicky, so she immediately brushed it aside. No, that was just silly! How could she ever feel that way about someone like Vegita? The man was obnoxious, rude, cruel, and mean. He didn't give a damn about anyone but himself, and even if that wasn't really the case, he was nothing but a burly brute with absolutely no sex appeal.

As she finished the last thought with a nod for emphasis, she inevitably found herself remembering the way he'd looked in his swimming trunks, and she grimaced again. She had told him the truth earlier that evening when she'd told him that she thought he looked good in them. Why the hell did she have to think such a thing? Hell, that wasn't even the worst part! Why in the name of all that was sane did she have to tell _him _she'd thought it? She hoped he hadn't read too much into her words. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was falling for him. She let out a nervous laugh as she assured herself that such a thing was entirely impossible. Her and Vegita? What a stupid idea!

God, her foot ached. "Stupid jellyfish," she thought with a frown. "Stupid me too. If I hadn't stopped to tease Vegita, I wouldn't be in this pickle." She was just glad she'd known what to do about the jellyfish sting, and she was _really_ glad she hadn't had to use the other method of treating such an injury. She very much doubted she'd ever be able to face him again if she'd had to ask him to... well, it would be best not to think about something so unpleasant. Ah well. At least she had been the one who'd gotten stung, and not Vegita. "Maybe it was better for the jellyfish too," she thought with a wry smile.

Bulma yawned once again. She was beginning to nod off, but she was still concerned by what was really going on between Vegita and herself. Well, there was always tomorrow. She really couldn't do anything about it now, and besides, maybe a night to sleep on it would do her some good.

Feeling less anxious now that she had a plan of sorts, Bulma soon succumbed to the persuasive force of her fatigue. As she gradually drifted off, the image of Vegita gently cradling her in his arms slid into her subconscious mind, and her pained, frowning expression slowly gave way to a contented smile. She was too far gone by then to question the feelings of security and contentment that had settled into her mind.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55: Dissolved Resistance**

Bulma awoke late the next morning to the sound of birds singing outside her bedroom window. Yawning and stretching her arms a bit, she threw back the covers, swung her legs out, and hopped onto the floor.

The subsequent, agonized yell resounded throughout the entire house. Bulma had completely forgotten about her jellyfish sting.

There was a sound like a freight train thundering its way down the hall outside her door, and then it – her door – swung open as Vegita bounded in - snorting and stamping like a mad bull.

"What in the name of seven hells happened?!" he yelled, staring wildly at the scene before him.

Bulma was still on her feet, but she was quite bent at the knees and very hunched over. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. Her eyes were shut as tightly as possible, with tears streaming abundantly from them. To top the whole thing off, she was quivering like an old washing machine on spin cycle. In all honesty, she looked rather like she was about to pass a gallstone, and if Vegita hadn't been so agitated, he might have burst out laughing at the ridiculous sight she made.

"What's wrong?" he demanded. "What happened? God dammit, woman, answer me!"

Slowly, Bulma straightened herself up, and as she did, she lifted her left foot up until it was well off the ground. Opening her watery eyes, she grinned awkwardly at Vegita.

"Er…" she faltered. "Well, I um… I kind of forgot about my foot being hurt and jumped down on it. Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you."

Vegita looked like someone had just pulled his plug and deflated him. At first, he seemed to have lost his capacity for speech, but finally, he managed to get his thoughts out in the form of some nice, fiery yelling.

"And just how in _blazes_," he roared, "did you manage a stupid thing like that?"

Bulma flinched, but in a rather impressive recovery, she gave a somewhat high-pitched laugh and scratched the back of her head. She limped a few paces back and forth across the room and smiled approvingly. "My foot doesn't hurt quite as much as it did yesterday," she mused, touching it gingerly to the floor. "It still hurts a lot when I put weight on it, but it's nothing I can't handle. I guess I didn't really notice any pain until I jumped down on it. That must have been how it happened."

Vegita growled and shook his head in obvious disgust. "It is beyond me how any one woman can harbor so much idiocy," he grumbled at her.

"Oh, stop griping and get out of here," Bulma scolded him, waving him away with both her arms. "I need a shower and a change of clothes, and I'm not going to get either with you here lecturing me."

Vegita shot her a fiendish grin. "What's wrong with what you're wearing now?" he asked silkily, making a point to look her over as he spoke.

Bulma looked down at herself and promptly turned bright red. She'd forgotten that she was still wearing her bikini, but even so, that didn't give him the right to act as though she was putting on a show for him or something! "How… how dare you?" she stuttered indignantly, making a pathetic attempt to cover herself by folding her arms. "You're a barbarian; that's what you are!"

Vegita laughed, obviously pleased that he had ruffled her feathers so badly. "You're the one who decided to wear it," he pointed out with a wicked grin. "What's wrong with my enjoying the view?"

"You…! You _animal_!" she yelled breathlessly. By now even her neck and shoulders had flushed a little. "Don't you _dare_ stand there and try to tell me that I wore this because I _wanted_ you to gawk at me, you pervert!"

"I didn't say that," Vegita replied coolly, "but now that you mention it, that might explain why you chose such a revealing garment…"

Bulma was so angry that she couldn't even speak. However, she could still act. She picked up her brush, her shoes, and a book, and she immediately hurled each one at Vegita. Of course, he simply stepped out of the paths of her projectiles; such primitive attacks were easily dealt with when it was a weakling like Bulma who was doing the throwing. She knew that, but at the moment, she didn't much care.

"Out!" she finally croaked as she hurled the last item at him. "Get out, now!"

Laughing openly at Bulma's embarrassment, Vegita finally relented and sauntered out. Bulma, now seething, flung open her closet and yanked out a change of clothes. Grumbling furiously, she stumbled out into the hallway and limped into the bathroom to take her shower. She would have given her left foot to have been able to stomp there.

- - - - -

Despite the high temperature of the water – and the way it stung like fire on her foot – Bulma's shower did wonders to cool her down. She left the bathroom smiling, and she carefully limped down the stairs and into the kitchen to fix herself something for breakfast.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Vegita asked her incredulously when he walked in to find her frying a nice, big bunch of sausages in one pan, and turning over an enormous pile of hash browns in another.

"What do you mean?" she said, turning around and looking at him in surprise. "I'm cooking breakfast, of course!" When Vegita just gaped at her in angry, dumbfounded silence, she laughed. "Well, I don't know about you," she chuckled, "but I'm starving! I didn't get any dinner last night, so I'm especially hungry this morning."

"You shouldn't be on your feet doing stuff like this!" Vegita exclaimed, bristling in anger. "What the hell is the matter with you, you damned fool woman?"

"Oh honestly, Vegita!" Bulma laughed. "My foot's not as bad as that! Sure, it's still pretty sore, but I can walk on it now, at least. It's not such a big deal for me to make us something to eat."

Vegita shot her a very irritated scowl. "You're a terrific pain in the ass, you know that?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, I know," Bulma chuckled. "Just be careful though, Veggie-boy. If you don't watch yourself, I might get the idea that you give a care." With an impish wink, she turned back around to work on their breakfast.

A few seconds later, Vegita curled his hands around her shoulders and leaned his face up next to hers. "You're the one who needs to be careful," he growled softly in her ear. Then he gave her a long, gentle kiss on her cheek.

Bulma's eyes popped open in surprise, and as he stepped back away from her, she touched her face where he had kissed her. The color swiftly rose in her cheeks, but she looked up at him anyway, her expression a mingling of confusion and fearful uncertainty.

"W-what was that for?" she stammered, turning and brandishing the spatula in her hand at him as though it was some sort of weapon.

Vegita shot her a wicked smirk. He was apparently pleased that his actions had flustered her so much. "I suppose you'd have me believe that you're the only one permitted to do such things," he jeered at her. He turned to walk outside. "You're burning my breakfast," he added idly on his way out.

"Gah!" Bulma cried in dismay as she turned to find black smoke curling out of her potatoes. She furiously scraped them out of the pan and onto a plate before they could be rendered wholly inedible. Then she did the same for the sausages. Still quite red in the face and panting angrily, she limped over to the table and set the plates of slightly blackened, fried food on it.

"Whew," she sighed, plopping down in a chair and letting her shoulders sag. She hesitated before calling Vegita, as the stunt he'd just pulled had left her rather breathless and anxious. Why had he done that? Was he really getting the wrong idea from her after all? She could see that she was going to have to be more careful to avoid giving him the impression that she _wanted_ that kind of attention from him.

"Hey! Vegita!" she called. "Breakfast is… er… very done!" She looked at her burnt sausages and hash browns and sighed. She could already tell it was going to be one of those days.

In her awkward, nervous state of mind, she didn't look up at Vegita right away when he came in to join her. However, when he dumped two entire armfuls of fruit on the table, her head didn't remain lowered for very long. She gasped as she stared at the variety of fruits Vegita had gathered. There were mangoes, kumquats, papayas, guavas, limes, and even a couple bunches of bananas. She looked up at Vegita in astonishment.

"Last night I picked these for breakfast," he grumbled with an irritated scowl as he crossed his arms and sat down in the chair opposite hers. "Of course, you needn't eat any of them if you'd rather eat _that_." He pointed to her rather charred meal with a jerk of his head before turning aside a little and scowling again.

Bulma was too astounded to feel insulted. "This is incredible!" she cried, too amazed by his deed to remember any of her awkwardness from before. "I had no idea there were so many edible fruits growing on this island! You _are_ amazing, Vegita!"

"There are more than that," he remarked indifferently, showing no trace of acknowledging her glowing praise, "but I'm unfamiliar with the plant life of this planet. I don't know which ones are safe to eat. I assume you can shed some light on that."

"All of these are!" Bulma exclaimed excitedly. "They're really good, too! The heck with this," she said, seizing the plates of blackened food and hobbling over to the trash can to dump them in without ceremony. "We're eating _your_ breakfast today, Vegita!"

They had a fine fruit breakfast, and they nearly ate it all; the only exceptions were the bananas and the limes. Bulma had said that the bananas weren't quite ripe yet, and she had commandeered the limes to make limeade. After they had eaten, she told Vegita that she'd never had such a lovely breakfast as the one he'd brought to her. His only reply had been an indifferent grunt, but had she looked up to see the smug look he wore while she cleared away the remains of their meal, she would have known that he had been thoroughly satisfied with her reaction to his offering.

After Bulma had finished cleaning up, she asked Vegita where he had found the limes. "I'd like to get some more," she explained. "With limes this fresh within reach, it'd be a shame not to make a good limeade."

Vegita said he could show her where he'd found them, so Bulma limped off to the hall closet to get a basket. When she returned, Vegita was there waiting for her at the door.

"Okay Vegita," she said, smiling brightly at him as they went out the kitchen door. "Lead the way, but try to be a little more patient with me than usual. I'm not going to be able to get around as quickly as I usually can."

Vegita smirked disdainfully at her. "Weakling," was all he said before sweeping her up into his arms and taking to the air with her.

"Vegita!" she shrieked, clutching at his neck involuntarily. "For heaven's sake, Vegita, this is becoming a really bad habit of yours! Is this really necessary?"

"If we want to get back in any reasonable amount of time it is," he snorted. "If we had to wait on you, I doubt we'd even return before noon."

Bulma folded her arms and scowled. "I think you're just doing this so you'll have an excuse to hold me again," she grumbled with an accusing glare at him. "I know I could fly today if I were careful, but I certainly won't be able to show you if you insist on hauling me around like a sack of potatoes, you pushy oaf!"

Vegita scowled right back at her. "Don't flatter yourself," he growled. "I'm only reducing myself to this so that you can gather your stupid fruit and I can go back before the day is out. Why the hell would I _want_ to carry a pathetic weakling like you around like this?"

This time it was Bulma's turn to sneer. "You tell me," she said, tapping his nose lightly with one index finger. "I think I should reiterate the fact that you _have_ been doing it a bit frequently lately, your highness."

Vegita only gave her a harrumph as his reply, and Bulma giggled in response. For once, he didn't have some witty insult to bounce back at her. Her mirth was short-lived though, because she suddenly realized the gravity of her own argument. He _did_ seem to be doing this a lot lately, and despite what he had said, he certainly didn't seem to mind, either.

That wasn't the strangest part of it, though. The oddest thing of all was that _she_ didn't really mind, herself. As a matter of fact, she actually kind of liked it. Something about being in Vegita's arms made her feel strangely safe and secure. It felt so remarkably _nice_ that it actually scared her. Well, to be more specific, what that might have meant scared her. Once again she found herself asking the same question she'd asked herself over and over during the past couple of days. Could she actually be falling for Vegita? Such a thing just wasn't possible... was it?

Vegita flew her to a small grove of citrus trees on the opposite side of the island. He landed lightly on the ground among them, and then he set Bulma back on her feet.

"Amazing," Bulma breathed, forgetting her unpleasant musings as she limped up to a tree and plucked a low-hanging lime from it. "There must be thirty or forty of these trees here!"

"Hmph," Vegita grunted, apparently not very impressed. He walked over to one of the trees and, after crossing his arms, he leaned up against its trunk and watched Bulma impatiently.

Grinning, Bulma split the lime she was holding in half, and she tasted it. Her face puckered up immediately. "Perfect," she said, shivering slightly as she shook off the powerful tartness. She tossed the halves aside and looked up.

"The ones at the top look enormous!" she gasped, shading her eyes from the sun. "I'll bet they're even sweeter, too!"

Vegita shot her an amused smirk. "Too bad your arms aren't longer," he jeered at her. "Pity. The poor little weakling will have to settle for the lower branches, won't she?"

Bulma made a face at him. "I can fly, you know," she snapped.

Vegita arched an eyebrow at her dubiously. "Can you?" he asked. His voice exhibited a noticeable hint of challenge, and it certainly wasn't wasted on Bulma.

She stuck her tongue out at him in reply and then turned to look back up at the tantalizing citrus fruits dangling mere feet out of her reach. Grasping the handle of her basket more tightly and licking her lips, she tensed her muscles a little. As long as she was careful, she had nothing to worry about. She just had to maintain her focus.

Slowly and carefully, Bulma floated up toward the higher branches of the tree to which she was nearest. Her foot hurt like hell, but she had resolved that she wasn't about to give up her freedom of movement any longer - pain or no pain. Besides, she knew full well that the toxin from the jellyfish wasn't going to propagate, and that moving her foot around wasn't going to make it any worse - even if she did have to grit her teeth to do it. Bulma was a very stubborn individual, and she wasn't about to let some brainless jellyfish ruin _her_ vacation!

Slowly and methodically, she worked her way around the nearby trees, picking the biggest and most tempting of the fruits hanging on the branches. After a good thirty minutes, she had filled her basket with the most delicious-looking limes she'd ever seen.

"All right," she panted as she landed somewhat unsteadily on the ground and turned to glare triumphantly at Vegita. "This'll be plenty. With limes like these, I feel like I can make the best limeade in the world!"

Vegita just grunted and glared impatiently at her. "Are you finished, then?" he growled. "You certainly took your time picking those damn things."

"Oh, be quiet," Bulma said with a dismissive wave. "It didn't take me all that long."

"Feh," Vegita snorted. "In the time it took you to creep around those trees and fill that little basket of yours, I could have plucked the whole lot from them and piled them all up in front of the house. Your weakness is infuriating; do you know that?"

"Well, excuse me! See if I let you drink any of _my_ limeade then!" she retorted, crossing her arms and tilting her nose up as she turned to the side a bit.

Vegita stifled a laugh. "I'm filled to the brim with remorse," he said with a sneer.

"You'll see," Bulma said slyly, shooting him a self-satisfied smirk. "I may not be much of a cook, but I'm a whiz at making drinks... and fruit drinks," she added, hefting a particularly large lime in one hand, "just happen to be my specialty!" With a haughty snap of her head, she took to the sky – a bit more slowly than usual – and headed for the house.

Without a moment's hesitation, Vegita shot up alongside her. "What's the matter with you?!" he bellowed. "Are you completely numb between the ears? You can't just fly around at this height with such an injury! As soon as you lose your focus and fall, you'll crack that empty head of yours open on a rock!"

"Oh, _Vegita_!" Bulma laughed. She couldn't help it. He was so earnest about what he was saying that he had forgotten to make an effort to hide his worry. "I'll be all right! Sure, it hurts like the dickens, but it's not like I'm crippled or anything. Don't worry about me; I can handle it."

Vegita's cheeks flushed a little as he realized that he'd shown her a bit more concern than he might have preferred, and he promptly crossed his arms and scowled. "I wasn't worrying about you," he snapped at her. "Don't misunderstand me. I just don't want to have to hear you whining at me later when your idiocy results in your sustaining yet another injury; that's all."

Bulma smiled and shook her head. Vegita's favorite excuse for showing concern for her well-being was always that he didn't want to hear any of her "whining." The ironic truth of the matter was that she never whined about pain or discomfort nowadays - especially around him. One of her greatest pet peeves was his finding a new cause to point out her weaknesses, so naturally she knew that this whole "whining" excuse of his was just a big load of baloney.

"I'm not going to whine about it," she chuckled. "You can rest easy, Vegita, knowing that your ears will be spared this time. If I do fall and crack open my skull, I won't say a word to you; I promise!"

Grumbling, Vegita turned his head away, seemingly in disgust. Bulma chuckled and shook her head again. Poor Vegita. Sometimes, even he just couldn't win.

They flew back to the house without another word. Bulma figured she'd spare him any more teasing for the present. He _had_ taken her to the limes without much complaint, after all. Vegita himself must not have had much to say, because he didn't offer any more comments either. At any rate, when they arrived, they went in without speaking, too. The silence didn't last after that, though.

"Now then," Bulma cried, hobbling into the kitchen with her precious cargo. "Time to squeeze me some limes!"

Vegita followed her and leaned casually against one side of the doorway so that he could watch. She got a large pitcher from inside one of the cupboards and set it next to the basket on the table. Then, after grabbing a knife from the silverware drawer and a sieve from the cabinet next to the stove, she sat down and began her task.

As she sliced the first lime in half, she finally looked up at Vegita, who was still watching her from inside the doorway. "This isn't going to be very interesting to watch," she laughed at him. "All I'm going to do is squeeze the juice out of these things and then add a few extra ingredients to the mix. It won't even be ready after that, because I'll have to let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before I serve it to you. You might as well find something to amuse yourself until lunchtime, Vegita."

Although he hesitated for a few moments, he didn't linger for long. With a light harrumph, he turned and walked out the door. Bulma sensed him fly off somewhere out toward the eastern end of the island, and she chuckled. He sure was being agreeable all of the sudden.

As she went back to slicing her limes, her thoughts sunk in a little more deeply, and she frowned. He was being more than agreeable; he was being downright passive. The very idea gave Bulma the willies, and she couldn't help but wonder just what had gotten into him lately. Why was he being so receptive to her wants and needs all of the sudden? It was as though he had suddenly found a mechanism for reading her mind even better than she could, and he was using the knowledge to do exactly what would throw her off her guard the most. How was he doing it, and more importantly, what did he expect to come of it?

Bulma sighed as she began squeezing lime slices over the sieve and into the pitcher. She was sure that she had figured him out; he was up to something sneaky, and he was trying to pull a fast one on her. No wonder she had gotten so worked up about him lately. He had simply thrown her off her game; that's all. Well, she was on to him now, at least. All she'd have to do was be on her guard and keep an open mind. She couldn't afford to let him take her by surprise anymore; there was just no telling what might happen.

She felt her face flush a little as she remembered the way he'd snuck that kiss in on her this morning. She supposed he'd owed her one after the stunt she'd pulled on him yesterday morning for agreeing to stay with her, but it just wasn't the same. She'd kissed Vegita out of gratitude. He'd kissed her out of... well, she wasn't really sure, but she _was_ sure it wasn't gratitude. The man didn't have a grateful bone in his body!

"Yep, no doubt about it, Bulma," she said darkly to herself. "He can't be trusted. Neither can you, if you don't get your act together. The way you've been going all googly-eyed over him lately is only proof that you can't out-maneuver what he's dishing out just yet. It's time to get serious about this. If Vegita thinks he's gonna pull a fast one on you again, he's got another thing coming!"

- - - - -

Vegita returned a little less than an hour later, and by that time, Bulma had already finished what she had been doing, and she was curled up on the couch with her book. She wasn't as restless today as she had been yesterday, and besides, her foot still hurt a great deal, so she was content to sit quietly and give it a break.

"Hello, Vegita," she greeted him as he came in, without looking up from her book. "I'll fix lunch in another hour and a half. Feel free to help yourself to a snack if you don't think you can wait that long."

"You certainly are preoccupied with my eating habits," he muttered, frowning mildly at her. "I suppose it never occurs to you that I might come inside for other reasons than to eat."

Bulma chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry," she replied, lifting her head and glancing at him with a grin. "I guess I'm just used to that stomach of yours making more sounds than your mouth. You've done more talking here than you ever did back at the compound."

"It's hard to avoid it, with _your_ mouth working so incessantly," he grumbled. "It's the only part of you that sees constant training."

Bulma laughed. "Oh, shut up, Vegita," she said affably. "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. I'll let you sulk in silence if you prefer that. As long as you relax, I don't really care what you do." She chuckled good-naturedly at him and turned her head back around to return to her book.

Although she couldn't see it, Vegita was sporting an amused smirk. He had a good feeling that if she really knew what would relax him the most, she wouldn't be so eager to give him leave to do it. After all, it involved her, and it was likely to be the kind of involvement that would make her good and angry if he tried it. Still, she was the one who had invited the idea. Perhaps it would be amusing him to call her out on it, if only to let her eat her words again.

"Very well," he said, strolling casually around the sofa and plucking the book from her hands.

"Hey!" she protested, glaring at him angrily. "What's the big deal, Vegita? I was reading that!"

"That's right. You _were_ reading it. Now you're going to do something else. I've come up with a method that will achieve maximum relaxation on my part, but it involves you, so you're now too busy to read a book. Understand?"

"God, you're such a bossy jerk," she sighed, shaking her head and hoisting herself up off the couch, gritting her teeth as her foot began to ache. "Would it have killed you to just _ask_ me for help instead of ordering me around like some kind of servant girl? Geez. All right; I'm game, Vegita. What do you want me to do?"

It took all the resolve he had not to smirk at her. She was just begging for this. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she realized what he had in mind.

"Close your eyes," he told her, taking care to keep his expression stern and commanding.

For a moment, Bulma looked as though she was about to comply, but all at once she got a funny look on her face. "Why?" she asked him, her expression very queer indeed as she studied his expression. Her dubious response impressed him, much as he hated to admit it. He had half expected her to just go back into training mode and follow his orders without question. Maybe she was beginning to develop a bit of sense after all.

"Just do it," he demanded, adopting a more irritated expression. He gave an inward chuckle of triumph as she shot him an impatient glare before scowling and closing her eyes. Then again, perhaps he had been too hasty in his assessment.

"Now what?" she asked him, her eyebrow twitching noticeably as she began to feel uncomfortable. "I don't really see how my standing here with my eyes closed is going to help either of us relax, Vegita."

"I'm sure you don't," he snorted at her. "If you'll stop clucking at me and listen, perhaps you'll be able to shed some of that pesky ignorance, won't you?" He saw her grit her teeth angrily, and he resisted the urge to chuckle at her. It was so fun to push her buttons. It was her own fault for making it so easy, though.

"Fine!" she growled. "Get on with it, then!"

Smirking evilly, he stepped forward until he was mere inches away from her, and without giving her a chance to step back, he cupped one hand behind her head and wrapped the other around behind her back as he yanked her up against him and kissed her. Her reaction was both immediate and violent. Squealing in protest and slamming her palms into his chest as she shoved against him, Bulma began squirming and fighting savagely. She obviously hadn't found his antics as amusing as he did.

Although his maneuver had originally intended to be a joke, Vegita didn't release her right away. All at once he had decided that he wanted to continue this little stunt even further. There was no harm in it, right? It's not as though he was hurting her or anything. He deepened his kiss, tightening his hold on her and only growling a little in response to her struggles.

Bulma was furious from the start, but it didn't take long at all for her to stop raging and start panicking. Why was he doing this? Was this really what he'd had in mind when he had wanted her to help him relax? As she struggled desperately to free herself from his immovable grip, she realized just how serious he was about this. This was no joke... he really wanted to kiss her. Her head began to swim, and she began to cease her struggles as she realized that she had no way of stopping him. All at once, the solution to her problem flashed in her mind like a beacon in a snowstorm: teleportation. That's what she had to do! She needed only to stop time, and then she could extricate herself from his arms and be free of him.

Feeling a little light-headed in the wake of her clever stratagem, she began to focus her chi. Even as she began, however, she could feel her focus dwindling. Something was wrong... she wasn't able to focus like this. Why couldn't she summon forth the chi she'd need to stop time? She could feel herself growing strangely warm and weak, and it puzzled her immensely. It was as though her strength was being sapped from her, and yet at the same time, she was being warmed and comforted by a strange, calming force. What was this presence that weakened her resistance and pacified her fury? It had never shown itself to her before, and she marveled at its strength. She felt certain that she was unable to resist its power, and as soon as she realized this, she became strangely calm and unconcerned, as though nothing was really wrong at all.

All at once, she realized that it was Vegita himself who was doing this to her. As he kissed her, he held her tightly against his warm, powerful body, and she felt the soft thumping of his heart as it pulsed against her through his skin. Her eyes had closed without her realizing it, and she was slowly but surely surrendering herself into the soft, gentle rhythm of his heartbeat. It was so strangely comforting in its sincere regularity. She tried feebly to remember just why she was upset, but she was unable to, and her desire to press the issue further simply didn't exist.

Without even realizing she was doing it, she lifted her arms and wrapped them around Vegita's neck. Understandably, this surprised him a little, but he didn't let it deter him in the least. He tightened his grip on her body and pulled her even more firmly against him, growling a little in his enjoyment. Her responsiveness had indeed surprised him, but it was by no means unwelcome.

They remained in that embrace for several minutes, holding one another and kissing quietly. Eventually though, Bulma's serenity began to fade somewhat, and she realized what she was doing. Instinctively, she slid her arms down from his neck to his chest, and she gently pushed them against him so that she could break off the kiss. They opened their eyes and gazed at each other in silence for a few moments.

The strange sense of euphoric calm that had possessed Bulma quickly dissipated, and she came crashing back into reality as she realized just what she had done. She had kissed him back! Vegita had kissed her, and she had done the same right back to him, as though it had been something she had actually enjoyed! Her mind reeled from the enormity of her carelessness, and she paled quite a bit as she stared up at him in her mounting horror.

Vegita was prepared for this, even though not even he had expected her to respond so well to his kiss. "I haven't given up on you, you know," he told her, tightening his hold on her. "I've said before that I wouldn't. The kind of peace that I get from holding you like this is far better than any silly vacation could offer me." He gazed hungrily into her eyes, and for the first time in a long while, Bulma saw the look there that used to frighten her so terribly. It still frightened her, but now it was for different reasons.

"Vegita, please," she begged him, dropping her eyes and biting her lip as she struggled to contain the emotions that were churning inside her. "Please don't."

"Then say that I disgust you," he replied fiercely. "Tell me that you loathe me. If you really feel that way, you should say it to my face!"

Bulma gave a shudder as she struggled against a sob. "You know that isn't true," she replied, her voice barely a whisper. "Why do you have to make this so difficult?"

Vegita grasped her chin and tilted her face up so that it was level with his. His smoldering, captivating eyes stared relentlessly into her tortured ones. "Because," he said quietly, emboldened by her response, "I love you." He lowered his head to her right shoulder and slowly traced a delicate trail of kisses up to the space behind her ear. The feel of his lips against her skin sent a series of shivers through her body, and Bulma felt the same strange, frightening weakness take hold of her. It caused her legs to quiver and her breath to quicken, and in the wake of these powerful sensations, she very nearly overlooked the enormity of what he'd just said.

All at once, however, Bulma's eyes shot open in astonishment so powerful that at first, she thought that she had imagined it. It had to have been a hallucination. There was no way Vegita would have said something like that, even as a joke. It felt as though the earth had been pulled out from under her.

"Y-you… you what?" she said in a low, feeble voice, beginning to feel more than just a little faint.

Vegita gently leaned back away from her so that he could return his gaze to her eyes. "I love you," he said again, staring calmly and unwaveringly at her. His cheeks were reddened slightly, but his gaze was resolute and completely devoid of hesitation or uncertainty. He was serious.

Bulma saw the raw, unmistakable conviction in his eyes, and all thoughts of this being nothing more than a hallucination fled her mind. "I think I need to sit down," she murmured weakly.

Vegita pulled her close again, and Bulma hung limply in his arms, overcome and immobilized by her shock at Vegita's revelation. She just didn't know how to handle this. Someone like Vegita ought never to say such words. What was he doing talking about love? How did he even _know_ what it was? Was this all just some kind of trick to break her?

"Does it really upset you so much?" he asked, tickling her ear with the soft breath of his murmured words. Bulma tried to lower her head farther, but she could do no better than bury her face in his shoulder.

"It isn't fair," she said in a muffled and rather choked voice. "You only said you wanted me. You never said anything about love."

Vegita frowned slightly. "No, perhaps I didn't," he admitted. "I just assumed it was understood. I suppose I shouldn't have made such an assumption though, given how you've shown in the past how incredibly slow you are to pick up on the obvious."

Bulma shook her head and gave a choked laugh. "And here I didn't think it was possible for things between us to get any more complicated," she said, looking up at him and forcing a weak smile.

Vegita gazed back at her with a mild frown. "In what way do you find it complicated?" he asked her quietly. "It all seems very simple to me."

Bulma laughed softly and shook her head at him. "I only assumed that what you felt for me was a basic, physical attraction," she replied. "It was easier to try to ignore that, but this... Vegita, if your idea of love is the same as mine, then this is a whole other ball game." She looked down again and lines of worry appeared on her forehead. "Only one other man has said those words to me and meant it the way you do," she said, clenching her fists as they rested on his chest. "At the time, I knew - deep down - that I didn't feel the same way about him."

"Hmph," he grunted, realizing that she was referring to that worm back at the compound. At least she'd had sense enough to recognize his inferiority and dismiss his advances. "Can you say the same about me with any certainty?" he asked, confident enough from the conflicted expression on her face that he already knew the answer.

Bulma bit her lip to keep it from quivering. "I don't want to say," she said at last. "It wouldn't be right for me to say what I'm thinking when I don't even know myself what it means."

Vegita wouldn't be so easily satisfied. "I demand to know," he persisted. "Don't think you can shield me from your thoughts by holding your tongue. If I had been afraid to learn the truth, I never would have said anything to you. I won't give up, no matter what you say to me now, so you might as well just tell me."

Bulma sighed bitterly. "I'm afraid," she said at last. "I'm afraid and confused by all of this, and I have no idea what's going on. I've never felt so completely unsure of myself." She looked up at him and offered him a gentle smile. "What I feel for you is much different now than it was when you first came to live with us, Vegita. I'm not afraid of you anymore; I've come to that conclusion already. Beyond that, though... I just don't know. I've been trying to figure it out for a while now, and every time I try, I just get all anxious and flighty. Maybe... maybe I do like you. If I do though, I'm not sure why, or just how much. I can't tell you anything for certain yet, because I don't know myself. As for whether or not I love you... That's... that's just not something I'm willing to consider right now." The redness in her cheeks deepened and spread, and she dropped her gaze again. She hadn't really intended to tell him so much, but it had just come spilling out once she had begun. Strangely enough, though, she wasn't really upset about it. She didn't know why, but she felt liberated somehow, as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

Vegita didn't smile, but the gleam in his eyes showed how pleased he was with Bulma's response. Although she hadn't come all the way yet, she was definitely making progress. He tilted her face up by her chin until it was level with his own, and he stared calmly into her eyes.

"It's a fair start," he said simply, and he cupped a hand behind her head pulled her lips to his, kissing her once again.

Her eyes shot open in alarm at first, but Vegita's remained closed in calm, quiet contentment. Bulma's mind began to swim again, and tears welled up in her eyes. She could feel her heart beginning to pound, and she realized with a great deal of alarm that at least some part of her actually wanted this. His warm, powerful arms were holding her so tenderly, and the way he kissed her now was so different today from how she had remembered it. It was soft and caressing, and it drew her into a safe, inviting place where she had never been before. What was this unfamiliar, comforting feeling? Why did it beckon her so? Was he bewitching her somehow?

Unable to resist the persuasive calm that beckoned to her, she closed her eyes and kissed him back, surrendering herself once again to his soft, gentle lips. As she felt the warmth of his body pressed against hers, Bulma realized all at once that she _did_ like Vegita, and that there really wasn't any need for logical thought. What business did logic have in something that made her feel so secure and safe? The truth was that she had very little willpower left to resist him now, with his warm, protective arms around her and his lips pressed so earnestly against her own. For the briefest of moments, she felt all of her doubts and worries melt away, leaving only peace and happiness in their wake. She had never felt such absolute freedom from her cares and worries.

Their kiss was shorter this time, but no less powerful in Bulma's mind. When Vegita finally released her from his lips, she didn't open her eyes again for several seconds. Her breathing was heavy, and her cheeks were stained with fresh tears, but the way she was still clinging to Vegita's chest was proof positive that she had responded positively to the experience. She let out a kind of a whimpering sound as she slowly opened her eyes. She focused her stare on Vegita's eyes, and when she saw the fierce desire burning in them, she suddenly became terribly afraid. What had she been doing? Maybe she _had_ wanted to kiss him, but that didn't mean that it had been the right thing to do. Even now, she still didn't know what was right and what was wrong, but she did know one thing: she had to get out of there. She had to get away from him before she did something she'd regret later.

"I… I have to go!" she cried, wrenching herself away from him and making a break for the door. Ignoring the searing pain in her foot and the cries of surprise she heard from him on her way out, she bolted out the door and down the path to the beach with all the speed her legs could summon forth, having already begun to lose control of her emotions along the way. She staggered over to the rocks at the edge of the beach, and she flung herself onto the sand behind one of the larger ones. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed loudly as she felt a wave of self-loathing wash over her. What had she done? How could she have been so incomparably foolish? She had _never_ intended to lead Vegita on like that. What was she going to say to him now? The damage had been done; she had let him think that she wanted him just as he wanted her, and she knew that he was going to pursue her even more ferociously now as a result of her carelessness. What in the world was she going to do?

Shivering and still sobbing, she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. What was wrong with her? Why had it been so terribly difficult to resist him? Did she just have a weak will? That couldn't be it, she thought angrily. There must have been a valid reason for her to give in to him so easily. He must have caught her off guard somehow. That was it, wasn't it? He had snuck up on her, and she'd simply fallen for his trap.

She tried desperately to see some validity in this explanation, but she realized after a few attempts that it really wasn't the case. She had seen him coming, and yet she'd still opened her arms to him after only minimal resistance. Why had she done that? Was it true? Was she really falling for him, despite all her best efforts to convince herself that such a thing was impossible?

Bulma raised her head, and she stared anxiously out at the choppy waves crashing on the reef beyond the shore. She was so tired of walking the same mental path about this. Every time she seemed to be coming to the end of it, she shied away, afraid of what she was going to find. Well, it was time to stand her ground. She had to find out the truth, no matter what it might be. Just what did Vegita mean to her?

Bulma closed her eyes and thought about him. She thought about the way he always criticized her, insulted her, and called her weak. She thought about how he rarely had a compliment for her, and how he always scoffed at whatever she did. She thought about what a jerk he was, and how sometimes she just couldn't stand him. Vegita really knew how to be an asshole.

Then she thought of how angry he'd get whenever he thought she was going to do something dangerous, and she thought of how worried he'd looked yesterday when he'd pulled her from the water. She thought of how he'd saved her life so many times already. She thought of how much he really cared about her, even though he was reluctant to show it. She thought of the warm comfort she felt when she was in his arms, and of the soft, gentle way he held her. She smiled faintly as she thought of how, even though he always tried his best to hide it, he really worried about her sometimes. Bulma closed her eyes and even gave a soft chuckle as she remembered how he'd melted when she'd given him her kiss of thanks for choosing to stay here with her. In his own way, Vegita was really sweet, and she cared for him. She really did.

Bulma was already traversing uncharted territory, and she knew better than to back out now that things had gotten more difficult. If she kept running from this, she was never going to sort it out, and her indecision would only hurt her and Vegita even more. She set her jaw and opened her eyes as she explored the depths of her own feelings. Yes, she cared about him, but how much? She had to know. Although she hadn't quite recognized it as such, it had now become the most important thing in the world to her to find this out. Had Vegita truly become more to her than a man whom she cared for?

Bulma took a deep breath as she tried to sort herself out. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that she found Vegita attractive. Today had proven that to her. She liked him, and at least part of her wanted him. Did she _love_ him? She knew that he was in her thoughts all the time, in one way or another. His well-being was a top priority to her, even to the point where she was willing to risk her own personal safety to ensure it. All at once she came to the strange realization that, should necessity call for it, she'd be willing to sacrifice her own life to save his. This thought had _never_ occurred to her before, and her eyes shone wide with wonder as she contemplated it. Still, she would gladly have done the same thing for her other friends. That impulse didn't prove anything, really.

Nowadays, it had gotten to the point that, whenever she woke up in the morning, he was there in her mind. By the same token, when she went to bed at night, he was there too. She tried to imagine what her life would be like today if she'd never met him, and she honestly couldn't. She tried to imagine how she would feel if he suddenly disappeared, never to return, and the agony of the thought struck her so violently that she felt as though a fist had punched her in the stomach. He had become a part of her life, slowly but surely, and it was a part that she knew she didn't want to give up.

So... so what did that mean? Did it mean that she loved him? She honestly didn't know. She did know that she'd never felt this way about anyone before, and that she couldn't say if it was love or not, since she had never felt something as powerful as love, either. Even if what she felt for Vegita was love, she felt sure that she wouldn't have been able to recognize it. How was she going to be able to know for certain?

"Well, there's one thing I do know, at least," she sighed, standing upright and dusting the sand off of herself. "Running away from him isn't going to help me figure out anything. I need Vegita for this; I'll never know for sure unless I can see him there while I reason this all out. I just wish this had turned out to be as easy as Mom had made it sound. Maybe there's just something wrong with me, and no matter how much I love someone, I'll never be able to tell."

It took Bulma another ten minutes or so to fully recover her nerve, but at last she finally steeled her courage and went back to the house. As she limped back across the sand, she knew that unless she came up with some foolproof test for riddling this out, she and Vegita were doomed to continue to suffer, and more than anything, she wanted to keep that from happening.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: A Strange, Beautiful Epiphany**

When Bulma returned to the house, she found Vegita sitting in one of the chairs outside on the patio. He got to his feet when she came walking up, but he didn't say anything. His expression was uneasy and a little confused, and Bulma suddenly felt an unbearable surge of guilt for putting him through what she'd done to him. Of course this had been hard on him too. She couldn't even imagine what thoughts must have gone through his mind when she'd dashed away from him like that. It made her wonder why he hadn't followed her out there. Maybe he had sensed how much she'd needed to think, and had decided to give her some space. Whatever the reason, she knew that she owed him an apology for being so cold to him.

"I'm very, very sorry for the way I took off, Vegita," she said, looking down at her feet and fumbling nervously with her fingers. "I lost my head for a moment, and I desperately wanted some time to think. I was so afraid and confused by what I had done, you know? Although it might have been nice if you'd given me some warning before kissing me, I want you to know that I'm not really angry with you for what you did, so please don't think that's why I ran off like that. I'm sorry; I'll try not to let it happen again."

She shuffled her feet uncomfortably, unable to lift her gaze to look at him, out of shame more than anything else. Vegita didn't answer her right away, and for a terrible moment, Bulma was afraid that he didn't want to forgive her. However, he did respond after a few more moments of uncomfortable silence. "Stop it," he ordered quietly. "You know I don't want to hear apologies from you, and nothing you've done warrants one. Don't be such an idiot around me; I won't tolerate it."

Bulma did lift her head to look at him then, and she thought she had caught a brief glimpse of something akin to regret in his sour expression. Although he would never have said so (even to her), maybe he felt sorry for kissing her like that without her permission. The thought filled her with a bizarre, sympathetic sort of tenderness for him, and she felt she ought to try to remedy things if he really was feeling guilty about the whole thing. "Well, anyway, I'm fine now," she assured him with a kind smile. "I just got a little caught up in the moment, and I scared myself. That's all."

Vegita shot her an irritated grunt by way of a reply. Bulma couldn't really determine from his expression or his body language whether he felt any better, but she still couldn't really confirm that her original suspicion had been right, anyway. Regardless, he was apparently willing to let the matter rest for the time being, so she let it go.

- - - - -

Later that afternoon, Bulma fired up the outdoor grill, and they barbecued a variety of meats and seafood, along with a few vegetables besides. Bulma had always felt that there was nothing better than a good barbecue when you were by the beach, and they both enjoyed the food very much, although not a word was said to signify it. They had opted to eat out on the patio, as it had been clouding up considerably today, so the sun wasn't at all as fierce as usual, making it an ideal day to eat outside. They also drank Bulma's limeade with their meal, and although Vegita didn't openly admit it, and Bulma wasn't in the mood to discuss it or anything else just yet, they both considered it a resounding success. She had used just the right combination of sweeteners in the sour lime juice, and it was indeed quite delicious – so much so that they both had second and third helpings of it as they ate.

Despite the pleasantness of the weather and the food, neither of them said a word during lunch. While Bulma munched her grilled squid, she stared at Vegita long and hard, evidently trying to figure something about him out. Vegita, however, paid no heed to her scrutiny of him, and he ate his meal calmly and quietly, as though he was entirely by himself. It was plain to see that Bulma's staring didn't have nearly the effect on him that his staring used to have on her. None of this really entered Bulma's thoughts as she sat there and stared the quiet man sitting across the patio table from her, though. He apparently didn't mind, so she was able to observe without distraction.

Bulma was, in reality, trying to work out the very same quandary she had been pondering all afternoon. She just kept getting hung up on the same thing. She didn't know how she could tell for sure if it was love that she felt for him. How could she be expected to recognize something she'd never experienced for herself?

She longed to ask Vegita how he had been so damn certain that he was in love with her, but she didn't dare; she knew that if she did, he'd know that she was considering the possibility that she loved him. He wasn't stupid, after all. Until she knew herself that she had a definite answer, she didn't want him to even know the fact that she was considering it. What could she do to find such an answer, though? Thinking about it had brought her nothing but frustration; it hadn't really gotten her anywhere further than where she had come out on the beach by herself. She was beginning to believe that in order to make any real progress on this, she'd have to actually _do_ something.

A terrible, extremely bold idea occurred to her, and she paled a little at the thought of it. She wondered if she had the nerve to ask him for such a tremendous favor, and even if she did, she questioned the likelihood that she'd even be able to follow through with it if she made the request and he agreed.

Finally, after taking a long draught from his third glass of limeade, Vegita looked calmly but attentively up at Bulma. "You want to ask me something," he said, gazing fixedly at her. It was neither a question nor an invitation. It was merely an observation, and nothing more.

Bulma had been startled by his uncanny words, and she gulped as she teetered over the precipice of her indecision. Should she just throw caution to the wind and ask him to play his role in her experiment? It would give him more insight into what she was thinking than she might have liked, but it was the only thing she could think of to do that she knew might give her any answers.

The hell with the consequences, she thought with an irritated frown. She just had to do _something_, and this was the only plan that she had been able to come up with. It was time to stop being such a coward and start being more decisive!

"Vegita," she began, glancing down at her plate and frowning uncomfortably, "something strange happened to me today when you kissed me, and I'm trying very hard to figure it out. It occurs to me that maybe just thinking about it isn't going to do the trick. I want to ask you for a favor, and it's a very tall order. Would you be willing to help me with this? It's a terrible thing for me to ask of you, since there's no guarantee that it'll lead to anything, but..." She paused to take a deep, calming breath as she felt the color flush in her cheeks. "But... I want to try k-kissing you again. I w-want to try to figure out why it felt the way that it did before."

She immediately lowered her eyes as her nerve floundered a bit, causing her to stumble over her words. She didn't dare look him in the face now, as she knew she wouldn't be able to continue otherwise. Better to wait until she had finished saying what she meant to say, and _then_ worry about his reaction to her words. "Yamucha never kissed me like that, and I certainly never kissed _him_ that way. I just have to know why it's so different with you. Am... am I making any sense?" She felt a little breathless as she stubbornly forced herself to raise her head. She glanced anxiously across the table at him, hoping for all she was worth that he wouldn't do or say anything to tease her, as she was terribly serious about this, and being teased about it would be all but certain to kill any confidence she would have in future attempts at solving her problem.

Either Vegita wasn't in a teasing mood, or even he had limits when it came to such things. She saw with relief that there was no look of scorn, amusement, or even astonishment on his face. Rather, he was staring intently at her, his calm, passive expression offering her no clues as to what might have been on his mind. She waited with bated breath to find out how he would reply to her request.

Vegita never made any vocal response, however. Instead, slowly but purposefully, he stood upright and began walking around the table toward her. Feeling her heart leap into her throat, Bulma shivered slightly as she stood up to meet him, but she didn't back away. Although she was terribly nervous and afraid of what she was about to do, she knew that the worst thing she could do right now was back down out of fear. When he had reached her, he stood passively and silently in front of her and allowed her to make the next move. It was as though he had known exactly what she'd needed him to do.

Encouraged by his passive but unthinkably obedient behavior, Bulma steadied her nerves as she stared boldly into his piercing, unreadable eyes. With hands that trembled slightly, she carefully grasped either side of his face, shivering a little as that probing gaze of his appeared to intensify in response to her touch. Gently – and quite timidly at first – she pulled his face to her own, closing her eyes and concentrating fiercely on trying to riddle out every confusing emotion that roiled within her psyche as she softly pressed her lips against his.

It didn't take her long to realize that it was different this time, now that she was the one doing the kissing. It wasn't exactly bad, but somehow it just wasn't as good. She furrowed her brow in consternation, and she slid her hands up behind him, cupping one behind his neck and the other against the back of his head, holding him steady as she kissed him more deeply and urgently. She could feel her own awkwardness and insecurity tug at her mind and flush her cheeks as she kissed him, and she wanted very much to forget all that. She wanted to feel the soft, comforting warmth that she had felt earlier, so that she could scrutinize it more closely and try to determine just why it was there. Why couldn't she find it this time? Had the last time just been a fluke?

After a few more tense moments of uncertainty, she felt Vegita curl his arms around behind her back, and Bulma gave a slight shudder as he slid one up behind her neck and lightly dug his fingertips into her skin. All at once she relaxed her muscles and let out a scarcely audible, shuddering moan. _Now_ it felt the same. That was what had been missing. As soon as she felt his touch on her skin, she began to melt into that calm, worry-free state of mind, and she fought desperately to retain her sense of reason so that she could study this sensation more objectively.

Thinking that maybe if she opened her eyes it would be easier to contemplate her situation without losing herself entirely, she half-opened them, only to discover that his eyes were open this time, and they were staring at her with an intensity that made her a little lightheaded. She shuddered again. It wasn't working. Even the image of those inscrutable eyes of his couldn't dampen the strange, soothing calm that was settling into her soul. Just what was the meaning of it all? It felt so wholesome and natural for her to kiss him like this, and she just couldn't see why it was so. It didn't make any logical sense! Was this warm, gentle sensation what it felt like to be in love, or was it just a symptom of her physical attraction to him? How could she possibly tell the difference?

She didn't let go of him, but she did pull her lips away from his, and although his head followed hers a little before relenting, he allowed her to end it as she wished. She stared helplessly into his mesmerizing gaze, and she trembled a little as she tried to decipher the sweet ache that seemed to permeate every dark recess of her being. She was afraid; she was so confused, and so very afraid of the unfamiliarity of her emotions. Why couldn't she figure this out?

"Why?" she whispered, echoing her thoughts with a voice that was only barely audible as her eyes filled to overflowing with tears.

Vegita saw the anguish and torment in her eyes, and he frowned back at them. "Why what?" he murmured. "If you want to ask me something, then ask."

Bulma convulsed as she restrained a sob. It took all the strength and willpower she had to keep looking him in the eyes as she spoke. "Wh-why does it feel so right to do this?" she whimpered. "It feels so safe and warm when you hold me like this, and I can't figure out why. I just don't understand what's happening to me! What... what have you _done_ to me, Vegita?"

Vegita's face was an insufferably unreadable mixture of what might possibly have been astonishment, confusion, and something else that Bulma couldn't discern. His mouth had fallen agape ever so slightly from whatever emotions were driving his actions, but his gaze remained fixed on Bulma's eyes, even as he removed his hands from behind her and cupped each side of her face in them. She closed her eyes and let out a shuddering sob as he used his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from her eyes.

How was he doing it? How was it that everything he did to her just made her melt in his hands? She was barely able to stand on her legs, they were shaking so violently from the inexplicable sensations of longing and need that were guiding her ever closer to a total shutdown of her resistance. She wanted him to hold her. She wanted to feel his arms around her and experience his warmth and his security again, but how could she possibly tell him that without knowing if this was love, or if it was something less honorable? It would have been cruel to ask him for something so serious if she couldn't also assure him that she was able and willing to give him more of the same right back. What was she going to do? Her heart felt like it was being stretched in many different directions at once.

"You have a bad habit of over-thinking things," he said at last, his quiet words shaking her from her miseries and forcing her to refocus on him. "You're fighting a terrible battle in there, and you won't be able to win if you just use your brain. Stop letting your mind do all the work, and rely more on your instincts."

Bulma shuddered as she clenched her hands into fists and struggled to compose herself. "Was it instinct that made you think you love me?" she asked him in a shaky voice, dropping her gaze and swaying a little – whether from her injury or her emotions, she wasn't sure.

Vegita sighed, and he grasped her shoulders in his hands and guided her back to her chair, pushing her down into it with his firm, gentle touch. "First of all," he said, taking a step back and folding his arms, "I don't _think_ I love you; I know it. Secondly, it was instinct that made you catch my interest in the first place, but it was my own mind that eventually acknowledged my desire for what it really was. You've been trying to go about it halfway. You can't let your brain do all the thinking for you. It's no wonder you're blubbering and shivering over this; you've worn yourself ragged trying to use logic to solve a problem that isn't even _based_ on logic."

Bulma sighed and shook her head. "But how do you _know_?" she said at last, glancing up at him miserably. "How do you know that you love me, Vegita? Do you even realize what love means?"

"What kind of a fool question is that?" he returned scornfully. "Of course I know what love is! It means that I will take you to be my mate. You will be mine alone, and I will be yours in exactly the same way. Love doesn't allow for anything less, and neither will I."

At first, Bulma was a bit shaken by his poignant, confident words. Until now, she hadn't even allowed herself to fully believe in the true magnitude of Vegita's declaration. She was no longer able to dismiss it as simply being a misunderstanding or some kind of trick. He was serious; he really loved her.

"Y-you really mean it," she said faintly, sinking a little in her chair. "You want me to be your wife!"

Vegita eyed her quizzically for a moment before speaking. "Wife?" he repeated, evidently unsure of the exact meaning of the word. "If by 'wife,' you mean the woman with whom I intend to spend what remains of my existence, then yes. I want you to be my wife."

Bulma buried her face in her hands and slowly shook her head. "But _why_?!" she asked, her voice cracking a little. "I wouldn't make you a good wife at all, Vegita! I'm obviously not the world's best cook, and I'm not one of the prettiest women around either." she lifted her head again, and the look that she wore could only have been described as being one of desperate sincerity. "You're even always saying yourself what a weakling I am. I've got a string of faults that couldn't fit on a list a mile long, so tell me why, Vegita. Why do you love me?"

"I'll grant you that your culinary artistry is most definitely _not_ your most refined skill," he snorted, shooting her an irritated scowl, out of resentment at his being second-guessed so much, "but even if the dishes you prepare don't taste the way you want them to, they were never even a factor when it came to my desire for you. As for your beauty," he said, eying her more critically now, "I should think that by now you ought to have realized that I happen to find you more than just a little enticing." His eyes roved noticeably over the contours of her figure several times, and Bulma blushed uncomfortably.

"Finally, to address your final argument," he continued, gazing at her with a grave, stern look that didn't waver, "granted, you are a weakling in most practical definitions of the word, but by Earthling standards, I suppose you couldn't really pass for one any longer. I myself have seen to that. I'm the most powerful Saiyan warrior alive, and quite possibly the most powerful warrior in the universe. I can't expect a fool woman like you to match my standards in strength and ability, just as I couldn't expect anyone else to, woman or otherwise. Your being a weakling is irrelevant to the topic at hand, so you can just forget about it."

Bulma, though still a good deal red in the face, bravely held her own against his stern gaze. "But how do you _know_?" she persisted. "How can you be so certain that you love me? Surely you must have _some_ doubts!"

Vegita expelled an angry, growling sigh. He was beginning to look very irritated indeed. "Why do you find it so difficult to believe?" he snapped at her. "Do you really think I would lie to you about something so significant?"

"N-no," she stammered, hastily shaking her head. "That isn't what I meant! It's just that… well..."

"You are my first thought when I wake up in the morning," he growled impatiently, "and the last before I go to sleep. Dammit, woman, I can't even train anymore without thinking of you. Do you realize how badly I want you? Do you?!" He slammed his palms onto the arms of her chair with such speed and force that Bulma jumped in alarm. "I don't know what your definition of love is, but that just happens to be mine. I can tell you with all certainty that I'll not be able to have a shred of peace until I know for a fact that you feel exactly the same way!"

Bulma's heart was pounding so violently by now that she was sure he could hear it. Hearing those words had triggered a strange, beautiful epiphany in her. It was the same! It was the same as her feelings for him! Bulma lost a lot of her color, and she gripped the arms of her chair so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. Everything suddenly made so much sense. That was why she couldn't bear to think of life without him. That was why she found it so hard to resist him. He had snuck into her heart without her even realizing it. She really was in love with Vegita!

"Oooh…" she moaned, finding her strength all but gone as she fell limply back into her chair and allowed her head to droop. Her face had become very pale, and she suddenly felt drained and weak. All that didn't concern her at all, however, because at long last, she was certain. Somehow, hearing Vegita's description of what he was going through had brought everything into crystal clarity for Bulma. She finally knew exactly how he felt... and how she felt. She _knew_. That gave her such a euphoric sense of peace and happiness that at first, she could do no more than sit numbly in her chair and revel in it as she waited for her strength to return to her.

"What's the matter?" Vegita demanded, alarmed by the sudden way she had slumped over, as well as the steep drop in the intensity of her chi. "Say something, dammit!" He grabbed her shoulders and gave them a slight shake, and her color began to return a little as she looked up and stared at him, her half-opened eyes full of wonder despite the sudden fatigue in them.

"The same," she murmured in awe, gazing into his eyes and marveling at their dark beauty, as though she was looking into them for the first time. "It's the same... we're the same." She pushed herself up and out of her chair, and as he backed away from her a bit to keep from knocking heads with her, she reached a shy but determined hand forward until she was able to touch the side of his face with her fingertips. She took a few small steps forward, until she was close enough to rest her other hand on his chest and see into his eyes even more clearly. "I finally understand. I've figured it out at last."

"What do you understand?" he demanded, his voice not really loud enough to achieve the level of authority or impatience that he normally would have preferred to convey. He wasn't altogether sure what to make of Bulma's odd, forward behavior, and his cheeks had begun to grow infuriatingly warm on him, too. If this was some kind of trick of hers, he wasn't going to take it lightly.

Bulma saw the confusion and awkwardness in his expression, and she chuckled warmly at him. "Hearing you just now, I've finally realized just how alike we are, Vegita," she explained, shaking her head and sighing happily. "All the things you just told me... the same things have been happening to me, and I've been so wrapped up in denial and suspicion that I haven't even allowed myself to realize it. I love you too. I know I do! I can say it with certainty now, and I'm not afraid of the knowledge, either. I love you, Vegita, and... and I don't want you ever to leave me," she laughed, feeling new tears spring forth in her eyes and warm, bright color flush her cheeks. She felt no desire and no need to resist her tears, as they were products of a completely different emotion than the ones she had become accustomed to. As such, they were part of the gift that Vegita had given her, so she found them utterly welcome and wonderful.

It felt as though a dirty, filmy screen had been removed from her vision, and she was now seeing the world in crystal clarity, only to find that it was ten times more beautiful than she had remembered it. At long last, she was sure of herself. She loved Vegita, and there was no reason to be afraid of her own feelings on the matter. It was nothing more than the truth, and truth was beauty to a person whose life had been clouded by doubt and uncertainty for so long.

Vegita seemed at first unable to believe her. He lifted his own hand to his face and cautiously brushed a couple fingertips against hers, as if he was afraid he might undo what had just happened. After only a brief pause, however, he grasped her hand tightly, closing his eyes and pressing it firmly against his cheek as he drew in a ragged breath. "I've waited a long time to hear those words," he growled quietly. "Say them again."

Bulma offered him a warm smile, and she wrapped her other arm around behind his neck as she stepped a little more closely and leaned her face in beside his ear. "I love you," she murmured, closing her eyes and gently tickling the side of his neck with soft, loving kisses.

Vegita groaned and pulled her against him, nearly crushing her in his arms. "It's about damn time," he growled, clutching her body against his so tightly that it gave Bulma the impression that he must have feared she might suddenly leap away from him. She sighed and tenderly draped her arms over his shoulders and around his neck. She felt so indescribably happy all of the sudden. It felt as though she could stay like this forever – holding him and being held by him. It was nothing short of sweet, blissful serenity.

"Never," he growled softly. "I give you my word that I'll _never_ let you go. Do you hear me?"

Bulma didn't answer. Instead, she held him more tightly and nuzzled her cheek against his neck. They held onto one another in that silent, tender embrace for what seemed to them to be mere moments, but was in fact a solid eight minutes. Even when the sound of distant thunder began rumbling at them out of the west and steadily grew in volume, they didn't loosen their hold on one another. Only after it actually began raining and had progressed to the status of a fair downpour did they finally break apart and go into the house.

The good soaking she'd gotten had brought Bulma back down to Earth a little bit, and she scowled as she trudged into the house. "Stupid rain," she grumbled, shaking her hair out and angrily dangling her drenched arms away from her sides. "The heavens sure have rotten timing today."

Vegita, who had followed closely behind her, curled his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her up against him. He kissed her ever so lightly behind her ear, and then he nibbled it a little.

"Vegita!" Bulma shrieked, abruptly pulling her head away. No one had ever done that to her before, and the strangeness of the sensation had made a shiver run down her spine and goose bumps pop up on her arms. Her face flushed instantly, and upon looking back at his amused, smirking face, she responded with an awkward smile. "Er… you k-kind of scared me there, Vegita," she stammered at him.

Vegita snorted derisively, and he turned her around until she was facing him. "I was going to say that you can hold your complaints," he said, brushing some of the damp hair out of her face and gazing hungrily at her. "I'm certain that I can think of some things we can do indoors to keep us both amused for a few hours." He let out a deep chuckle before shooting her a wicked smirk.

Bulma thought she had a good idea just what sort of amusement Vegita had in mind, and all at once she felt as though a million butterflies were having a dive-bombing competition in her stomach. Was she really ready for something that serious? She hadn't given even a single thought to the idea of being physically intimate with him; things were happening so dizzyingly fast that she was scarcely able to keep up as it was. Still, how could she say no to him? She'd already acknowledged the fact that she loved him, and she knew that she trusted him more than she could any other man. Why _should_ she hesitate to give herself to him?

"I… I… um…" she stammered, looking up at him as her face began to pale. "That is, I…" She didn't know what to say. The truth was that yes, she loved him, but she was afraid; she was afraid that if she tried this now, she might find that she wasn't ready, and that she'd only disappoint him or hurt his feelings if she lost her nerve and had to beg him to stop. She didn't believe for a moment that he'd push her into something she wasn't ready for, but she didn't want to see the disappointment on his face if she had to tell him no. What was she going to do? She began to tremble slightly as she looked helplessly up at him, but the words she wanted just wouldn't come.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, her face twisted in anguish, and she forced herself to say _something_, at least. "I _do_ love you, V-Vegita, b-but I just don't think… I…" Tears began to blot her vision and sting her eyes. "I'm sorry, Veg-…"

Vegita put a finger to her lips to silence her. "Don't," he said, frowning and shaking his head. "Don't even think of apologizing. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want. I might have guessed that you wouldn't be ready for that yet." He gazed at her with only the barest trace of regret in his eyes, but Bulma mistook it for something entirely different.

"Please don't be disappointed!" she cried frantically. "It's not that I don't want to, Vegita! I do! But I'm… I'm… so scared!" She broke down completely then, and she covered her face with her hands as she sobbed into them, no longer able to restrain her tears of shame.

This was too much for Vegita. "No, dammit!" he snapped, pulling her to him and gritting his teeth as he clutched her tightly against him. "I'm not disappointed, all right? There's no reason for hysterics! Honestly, do you have to cry for everything?" He released her and gently pried her hands from her face, ignoring the way she shook her head and tried to turn away to hide her face from him. He held her fast and lifted her face up by her chin, staring fixedly into her eyes as he wiped her cheeks dry with the fingertips of his other hand.

"If you're not ready, then we will simply wait until you are," he told her with a gravely serious expression. "You are my mate, and you have no reason to fear me. Somehow, I _will_ win your trust; do you understand?"

He let go of her chin, and Bulma immediately let her head fall again. She was so ashamed of herself that she couldn't even bear to look him in the eyes. "I _do_ trust you, Vegita," she said in a shaky, sniffling voice. "I'd trust you with my life! You're not what's scaring me; I am. I'm so unsure of myself. This is uncharted territory for me, and I don't know the first thing about making love. Maybe I am just a little afraid of the act itself, but I think what scares me the most is how bad it's likely to be if I try and then lose my nerve part of the way through," she admitted, biting her lip in embarrassment.

Vegita lifted her face again and fixed his eyes on hers. "Then we won't try tonight," he assured her. "I certainly won't force you to do something you aren't prepared for, and I won't have you forcing yourself on my behalf, either. Just so you know, however," he said quietly, "you've no reason to be afraid of mating with me. I give you my word that when the time comes, I will be very gentle with you. Also, when that time comes," he added, "the pleasure I will bestow upon you will easily make you forget whatever fear or discomfort your first time may bring you." He then pulled her to him and traced a lazy line of sensuous kisses down one side of her neck and across her shoulder.

Bulma shuddered as this activity sent a pleasurable tingle racing down her spine. She couldn't deny that she wanted what Vegita wanted, even if she was afraid of it. Nevertheless, as soon as she had begun to quiet her prior fears, more worrisome thoughts came bubbling up to the surface to take their places. What if she didn't enjoy it as much as he thought she would? Even worse, what if _he_ didn't enjoy it at all? She didn't know anything about pleasuring a man. She certainly couldn't count on herself to please Vegita in the way he had promised he would for her. She couldn't bear the thought of such an awkward situation. She wanted the ability to offer her own talents to the experience; she didn't want to feel like he was the only one contributing anything.

"I want to, Vegita," she murmured timidly, tightening her hold on him. "But… I don't know how…" She blushed furiously in embarrassment. "I don't think I'll be able to, er… to give you that kind of pleasure." By now her face had become a bright shade of scarlet, and when Vegita leaned back to look her in the eyes, she looked downward again, unable to look him in the eyes for her embarrassment.

Vegita let an amused smile escape. "Idiot," he said reproachfully. "Do you really think that something as insignificant as your lack of experience could deter me? Fool!" He chuckled and shook his head at her. "The fact that no man has ever touched you does not weaken my desire for you, and it most certainly won't lessen the pleasure I'll get out of mating with you! "

Bulma smiled shyly at Vegita, and he smirked back at her. Remarkably enough, his simple, scornful words had managed to soothe her anxiety. She loved him, and she wanted very much to make him glad he had chosen her. She decided that, although she was more than a little jittery, she had no sound reason to doubt herself any longer. She was willing to give it a shot. She wanted to be able to show him – and herself – that she was totally committed to him, and prove to him that she trusted him completely.

"I've never felt this way about anyone," she murmured, looking down again but smiling fondly. "I love you, Vegita," she said again. She looked back up at him, and there was warm affection in her smile, but no trace of fear anywhere on her face. "I want to share everything with you," she said boldly, "and I'm not afraid anymore. I would trust you with anything. W-will you be my first… and only?" she stammered not-so-boldly, her cheeks turning a furious rosy red.

There was no mistaking the raw, fierce desire burning in Vegita's eyes as he gazed at the blushing face of the woman he loved. It took every scrap of willpower and restraint he had at his disposal to say what he knew that he had to. "Not until I know that you're ready," he said quietly, his eyes still ablaze with desire. "You haven't had time to consider it yet. Only seconds ago you were trembling like a leaf at the merest mention of mating with me. You need to consider this with a clear head, and I'm afraid that's something you don't have at the moment."

Bulma smiled at him, and it was a smile of pure adoration. "Oh Vegita," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly. "I never knew it was possible to care for someone so much; I think my heart might burst! I'll do what you want and give it serious thought. I... I just want to make you happy."

She kissed him gently on the neck as she laid her head upon his shoulder, and Vegita very nearly lost what little resolve he had left. "Dammit, woman!" he said through gritted teeth, nearly crushing her in his quivering arms. "Do you have _any_ idea what you're doing to me?"

Bulma didn't answer him. There really wasn't anything she could say to that. Instead, she nuzzled her face against his neck and clung more tightly to him. Although she no longer had any doubt in her mind that she was ready to share everything she had with him, she would wait if he said she should, and she would try to do what he asked and think seriously about the matter. All she wanted at this moment was to please Vegita. It was such a unique feeling - to care so much about the happiness and pleasure of someone else. Up until this point, she had been a normal, selfish human being – focusing primarily on her own happiness and comfort. Really, that isn't as bad as it sounds, considering the undeniable fact that it is the state of mind for every other human being for much of his or her life. It's in the nature of humans to be selfish.

Love is a funny thing, though. It somehow makes a person move beyond his or her selfish nature and shift the priority to the other person involved. Even Vegita, although he wasn't human - and was an undeniably selfish person - had laid aside his own desires to ensure the well-being of the object of his affections.

Love, in its purest form, is one of those rare things in the universe that has the power to make people act entirely against their nature. In the fortunate case in which this powerful force touches two people and causes them to fall in love with one another, there forms one of the most precious and powerful social bonds anywhere the universe over. Although it had taken a long time for Bulma's end to surface, at long last, another of these extraordinary bonds had been formed.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: Taming the Storm**

Vegita and Bulma were forced to stay indoors all afternoon and even into the evening because of the weather. It had progressed to a terrific storm after only a few hours, but neither of them minded, of course. Neither had any objections to staying inside and being in each other's company. Bulma amused herself and Vegita by teaching him how to play video games, and she had an all-out brawl with him on Ultra Mega Death Match IV. Although he had smashed the first controller in his zeal to pummel her character senseless, she did have extras, so eventually they were able to really let each other have it. Although he didn't openly admit it, he did think that the activity was at least a little diverting, even if he did make a big show of scoffing at the cowardly substitution so many humans had made in order to avoid actual combat.

They did have a good time together in the dry safety of their capsule house, but the weather didn't show any signs of letting up. In fact, when eight o'clock rolled around and the storm had only seemed to have gotten worse, Bulma had begun to get more than a little nervous.

"It's actually normal for it to rain nearly every day in this part of the world," she explained to Vegita, "but those storms don't usually last more than a half hour or so. This one's really beginning to worry me." She glanced apprehensively out the window at the wildly thrashing palm trees and choppy surf down at the beach beyond the path.

"What's the problem?" Vegita asked, shooting her a taunting sneer. "Don't tell me the pathetic storms of this planet frighten you!"

"They do if they're the right kind," she replied darkly. She went and fetched her laptop computer from her room and sat down with it on the sofa.

Vegita watched her with only mild interest. "What are you doing now?" he asked her indifferently.

"I'm going to use one of my dad's photo-surveillance satellites to see what kind of weather we're in for," she answered. "I just need to give it our coordinates here and task it to zoom in on our location." She began typing commands into her keyboard, muttering to herself and frowning at the screen in front of her. There was a brief pause of silence, save for the occasional kacha-kachak from her keyboard. All at once she let out an irritated groan and shook her head angrily at the monitor.

"What's the matter now?" Vegita demanded impatiently.

"This is just great," Bulma grumbled. "Vegita, we're sitting right inside the outer bands of a typhoon!"

"A what?" Vegita said, not sure how he was supposed to react to what she had told him - especially considering the fact that he didn't know what it meant. "I still fail to see why you would get yourself so worked up over a storm. Even if you are just an Earthling, you shouldn't be so much of a coward!"

Bulma answered him with a dry laugh. "Yeah, well we're in the tropics, Vegita," she chuckled, "and it's right in the middle of typhoon season. I realize that probably means nothing to you at the moment, but it will in a few minutes, when I explain it to you. First though, I have to call my dad and find out how bad our storm is, and in what direction it's heading."

She dug around in her computer case until she located her com-link camera and its cables. She plugged it into the port on the back of her computer and put on her microphone headset before starting up the connection program, opting to patch into the line in her father's workshop. It was late, but he often worked there in the later hours of the evening, because he slept in so late in the morning.

When the connection had been established, she began to speak. "Dad, it's me, Bulma," she said in a clear, urgent voice into the mouthpiece of her headset. "Come in, Dad!" Vegita was somewhat curious about the whole setup, but he wasn't about to lean over and gawk as though he cared or anything. He got up and walked around behind the couch, folding his arms and waiting rather impatiently for her to finish.

Bulma had been right about her father. There was a few seconds' pause, and then Dr. Briefs' face popped up on her screen.

"Bulma!" he cried. "It's good to hear from you again, hon! How's vacation life treating you and Vegita? Having fun?"

"We were," she answered with a shrug, "but something's happened that I need your help with. Uh… are you alone there in the lab?"

"Yep," he answered, nodding his head at her. "What did you need, sweetheart?"

"First of all," she said, assuming an air of authority. "Whatever I say to you is to go no further than yourself and Mom. Agreed?"

"Sure," he said, smiling at her. "You know you can tell us anything, dear. What's up?"

Bulma frowned at his carefree dismissal of her request. "I mean it. I don't want anyone else to hear about it. Not Goku, not Kuririn, and certainly not Yamucha. All right?"

"All right, dear," he laughed, holding his hands up for her to see. "You've got it! Why all the secrecy, though?"

"Because," she said, relaxing a little, "what I need you to help me with is going to involve my telling you where Vegita and I are, and I don't want anyone to come out here and bother us. The whole point of my bringing us out here in the first place was to get us away from the compound and the rest of civilization. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," Dr. Briefs said with a sly grin. "You just want to be alone out there with your spiky-haired beefcake for a little while longer. I understand completely, Bulma."

Although Bulma promptly turned a furious shade of red (as she knew without a doubt that Vegita was smirking at her behind her back), she made a marvelous success of refraining from blowing up at her dad. Instead, she forced a laugh and grinned angrily at him. "Yeah, that's it, Dad," she chuckled at him, "so you've got to keep quiet."

"Er… right," he said, evidently rather perplexed that she hadn't flown off the handle as he'd expected (and hoped) she'd do. "So what is it that you needed, hon?"

"I need you to check out a storm for me," she said, adopting a more serious expression. "Vegita and I are on an island in the North Pacific Ocean, and we're right on the fringes of a large typhoon. I checked it out on the number three PS satellite," she explained. "What I want from you is a better description of this thing. I need to know just how strong it is, where it's heading, and how fast it's moving. Your access to the weather data is better than mine is, and you've got the prediction models loaded on your equipment there in the lab, too. I only have my laptop out here, and my resources are limited."

"I see," he said, also adopting a more serious expression. "Give me your coordinates, then. I'll check it out for you, Bulma."

She gave her dad the geodetic coordinates of their island, and he excused himself to go check it out at one of his main computers. A few minutes later, he came back in view of the com-link screen, and he had several printed sheets of paper with him.

"It doesn't look so good, hon," he said with a frown. "That's typhoon Ryoko you two are having a nighttime rendezvous with out there, and she's one tough cookie."

"How tough?" Bulma asked him.

"Category four and rapidly gaining strength," he replied. "She's got nothing but open ocean between you and herself, and it's warm open ocean at that. She's moving directly southeast, and if you two are on that island under her southeast fringe, you're both going to be in a world of hurt in a couple of hours."

Bulma sighed. "I was afraid of something like this," she said with a scowl. "When I saw the tiny, well-formed eye on that surveillance photo, I figured she'd be at least a three. This isn't good. The capsule house we're staying in won't be able to handle the kind of storm surge this island is in for. We're going to have to do something."

"What can you do though, hon?" Dr. Briefs exclaimed. "The winds are bound to be at least ninety kilometers per hour where you are now! You know I have unshakable faith in your skills as an aircraft pilot, Bulma, but I know that even you won't be able to negotiate winds that strong in any of our regular transports! If you try to fly yourselves out of there, you're certain to be tossed into the sea!"

"Don't worry about that, Dad," Bulma said in a reassuring voice. "I don't know exactly what we're going to do yet, but you can bet that I won't be using such a crude means of getting Vegita and myself home. You can ask Mom about more of the details if you're curious. I just hope it won't have to come to that, though, because I don't want to leave yet. I have to talk this over with Vegita, first. If we decide to come home, I'll be sure to call you before we leave. Okay?"

That seemed to satisfy Dr. Briefs. "Roger that," he said with a relieved smile. "You two be careful, Bulma. Oh, and you can tell Vegita that his gravity machine is fixed again. If you two do decide to come home, it'll be waiting and ready for him."

Bulma realized that because of where he was standing, Vegita wasn't visible to her father. She smiled. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it," she said with a smile. "Thanks, Dad. Bulma out."

"Bye, honey!" he cried, waving a final time at her before she closed the connection.

Bulma sighed again as she took off her headset and stood up. "Bad news after all," she sighed dejectedly, shaking her head. "I was afraid of this. I wonder what we ought to do about it."

"Are you really so afraid of this storm?" Vegita asked her with a disapproving scowl. "You would consider changing your mind about this whole ridiculous vacation thing over a storm?"

"If it comes to that, yes," she grumbled. "Although I'd really rather not go home yet, we might not be able to just stick it out where we are." She sat back down and began to explain to him just what a typhoon was, and why it was impossible for them to remain holed up in their capsule house. After a few minutes of concise explanation, Vegita finally understood the seriousness of their predicament.

"Many of the planets Nappa and I cleared up had storms like this, but we were never hindered much by them, since we didn't rely as heavily on our lodgings for protection as you humans do," he scoffed at her. "I certainly don't fear anything as trivial as a storm, but I know that I'll have no peace and quiet unless I placate you about it. What were you going to suggest we do? If you aren't willing to accept the option of returning to the compound, you must have an alternate course of action in mind."

Bulma was about to tell him that she didn't, and that maybe they really ought to consider going back home, but suddenly a crazy, exciting thought occurred to her. "I just got a wild idea," she gasped, her face cracking into a slow, sly grin at him. "What kind of shape are you in right now, Vegita? You aren't really tired or anything, are you?"

"What the hell kind of fool question is that?" he growled indignantly. "I am _always_ in top form!"

Bulma nodded and looked down excitedly as she worked things out in her mind. "There isn't another island around for at least a few hundred miles," she muttered aloud. "Our little island is the only one anywhere near this typhoon; that's why it's been gaining so much strength on its way here."

"I demand to know what you're babbling about!" Vegita snapped.

Bulma looked back up at him, still grinning broadly. "We could take this sucker out ourselves," she said eagerly. "I'm almost positive we could do it! Shoot, Gohan easily destroyed a full-blown tornado before we got to Namek. They've got much faster winds, even though they're on a much smaller scale than the thing we have to deal with. I'm much stronger now than he was then, and you're easily thirty or forty times stronger than I am. I'm almost certain that we could destroy this typhoon before it does any real damage to the island!"

A slow, malevolent smirk spread across Vegita's face. "Not a bad idea," he said with a look that remarkably resembled approval. "It's about time you grew a spine. All right then; so we destroy the thing. What say we get started right now?"

Bulma grinned. That had been the closest thing to a direct compliment that Vegita'd ever given her. "Hang on a minute," she said, holding a hand up. "We can't just go in blasting haphazardly. We have to do this the right way. If we just indiscriminately fire blasts at the thing, we might create some pretty big waves in the process. If we're not careful, we might just wipe this island clean of everything on it without even letting the typhoon have a shot at it."

"All right then, Miss Genius," he said condescendingly. "Just what do you suggest that we do instead?"

"Well," Bulma said with a rather defensive scowl, "I'm getting to that. Now, I think that if we can break down the structure of the eye, it'll lose a lot of its power. Also, if we can somehow slow its winds down - chi blasts might do it - that would deal it a pretty good blow too. I think I could handle the eye, but there's no way I'm strong enough to take on the rest of the thing. This typhoon in particular is a good two hundred miles across. I'd get tired out really fast if I had to struggle against the high winds while I was blasting something that large, even without an injured foot. I think I should leave that part of the task to you."

Vegita nodded slowly. "It sounds feasible," he said, frowning as he mulled it over in his mind. "Are you sure that foot of yours can handle such a chore?"

"I do believe so," she said with a confident nod. "It's not a whole lot better than it was earlier today, but it's really not enough to keep me from doing my part. It'll only be a matter of time before the poison works its way through my system, but we don't have that kind of time right now, so I'll just suck it up."

Vegita snorted. "I hope you won't expect me to come save your skin if you let yourself get blown around all over the place. If you're going to do this, you'll be on your own out there."

Bulma grinned at him. "I'm not that concerned," she replied truthfully. "I can handle myself better than you give me credit for, Vegita. There's only one thing about all this that bothers me."

"What's that?" he asked her.

"I know we can take this thing out without killing ourselves," she said, frowning slightly, "but the waves still concern me. No matter how careful we are, I'm pretty sure that we won't be able to keep the sea down to a mere ripple throughout all of this. All it'll take is a nice ten-foot wave through here, and our little capsule house will be washed away like a pile of toothpicks."

Vegita gave a dismissive snort. "That's easily taken care of," he said with a sneer. "You can let me take care of the typhoon while you stay out here on the beach. If you see any threatening waves, I'm sure even you can make short work of them."

Bulma nodded, but she was still frowning. "I suppose that could work," she said thoughtfully. "But there's no guarantee that I'll be able to hold out long enough. Typhoons are huge, Vegita. It may take you more than a couple of hours to get rid of this one." She looked out the window at the large breakers already making their way onto the beach. There had to be a simpler answer.

"Hey, wait a minute!" she cried, smacking her forehead and laughing. "What the heck am I worrying for? This is a capsule house! I'll just recapsulate it and put it in my pocket before we start out!"

"So we'll have full range at this storm then?" Vegita asked, crossing his arms and eying her critically. "There won't be any need to hold back?"

"Well, pretty much," she answered. "Naturally, you'll have to restrain yourself enough to keep from blowing up the planet or at least our little island here. I will say though that as long as the house survives, I won't be too upset if a large wave sneaks in and takes out two or three palm trees. I'm more concerned about our having a place to sleep when this is over."

Vegita snorted again. "Once again you've shown how much of a weakling you are," he said with a sneer. "You shouldn't have to have an entire house simply to sleep! If you humans would quit such pathetic habits, you might be able to survive things more readily."

"Be that as it may," Bulma said with an indignant glare, "I'd prefer to sleep under a roof. Call it an eccentricity if it makes you sleep better at night."

"I'll call it what it really is - a weakness," he said scornfully.

Bulma didn't argue the point further. She didn't want to get Vegita started on another one of his "why Saiyans were superior to humans" gripe sessions.

"In any event," she sighed, "let's get started. I want to get rid of this thing as quickly as possible. Are you ready?"

"Are you?" Vegita jeered.

Grinning and shaking her head, Bulma led the way out into the howling wind just beyond the front door. When they had both gone outside, she pushed the recapsulation button next to the door, and after picking the resulting capsule up off the ground and stuffing it into her pocket, she turned around to face Vegita.

"All right," she said loudly, trying to project her voice over the howling wind. "I'm going to teleport to the eye. You can get started wherever you want, I suppose. Just pick a place with really strong winds and blast against them. Try not to get struck by lightning," she added with a grin.

Vegita sneered. They both knew that they'd endured far worse than the comparatively feeble spark they'd receive from a lightning strike, but Bulma had felt the need to tease him, and pretending as though lightning could fry the hardy Saiyan was just one way to do it.

"I'll come join you when I finish off the eye," she said in a taunting voice. "I'll help you defeat the scary winds, Veggie-boy."

Vegita sneered. "I'll have destroyed the whole thing within minutes," he said arrogantly. "By then you'll have gotten yourself blown down into the sea by the wind or one of my blasts, no doubt. However, perhaps if I feel generous I'll come fish you out, provided you beg me nicely. On second thought, why don't you just stay here and leave this to me? This is work for a real warrior; a little weakling like you will only get hurt!"

Bulma laughed. "You just watch your back," she warned him. "I wouldn't want one of my blasts to catch you off guard. I have no intention of fishing _your_ sorry carcass out of the sea if you get fried, no matter how much you beg!" Before he even had a chance to scoff at her again, she had stopped time and taken off for the eye. She was eager to see just how quickly they could finish this job. It was a great opportunity to test her abilities, and it was just as exciting to find out how quickly Vegita could do his part. Typhoons weren't particularly powerful when compared to the strength of Bulma or Vegita, but their sheer size contributed ample difficulty to their task.

As Bulma quickly shot her way through the outer layers of the typhoon, she was enthralled by the incredible sights she passed. Lightning discharges - many only partially formed - hung suspended in the air all around her like brilliant streamers. On several occasions, she happened upon the beginnings of a bolt from the clouds, and another coming up to meet it from the sea below. The rain hung suspended in the air like an unending beaded curtain, and as Bulma flew through it, she left an oddly shaped tube of dropless air behind her. With time standing still, it made it much easier to observe all the previously unobservable properties of this storm, and she was more than captivated by it. She knew several meteorologists who would have given their right arms to see what she was seeing. It was more than marvelous. It was beautiful.

Bulma flew along for miles, flying more and more deeply into the typhoon. If it hadn't been for the lightning, she might not have seen anything at all, but even her sight didn't do much to help guide her. It was harder than it had initially seemed to locate the eye of this storm in the darkness of an overcast night sky. The only clue she had to go by was the density of the clouds and the angle that the rain was making with her sense of balance. Several times she wandered past her destination and had to retrace her steps back, but eventually, she finally found the empty, cloudless eye, and she let time flow once again.

"Whew!" she sighed, shaking some of the water off of herself and giving herself a chance to catch her breath as she enjoyed the extra ten degrees or so of warmth that the eye provided her. She looked up at the sky above her and smiled. The stars were readily visible, and the bright, barely-waning moon was a beautiful sight. Looking at the starry patch of night sky above her, it was almost hard to believe that she was surrounded on all sides by ferocious storm clouds.

That was enough stargazing for her, though. It was time to get serious. She looked around a bit and set her jaw. "Ready or not, Vegita," she muttered as she charged up. "Here I go!" She then shot a tremendously wide blast of chi energy into one end of the eye's cloud banks. She wasn't pleased with the results. The hole in the clouds that her blast had created was picayune in comparison to the monstrous towering clouds lining the wall of the eye. What's more, the hole closed up almost immediately, too. Bulma scowled. This was going to be harder than she had thought. She needed to think of a more effective strategy than simply blasting her foe away a little bit at a time. Her foot hurt too much for her to wear herself out with a bunch of chi blasts, and her strength wasn't likely to hold out for more than an hour or two because of it.

There was always the shougeki-ha technique that Vegita had taught her. It took a lot of energy, but it could be manipulated to spread wide like the blast of an atomic bomb. It would have the right kind of coverage, but it could have devastating effects in the way of tidal waves, and not just for their island, either. With the easy way these things could travel in open ocean, the nearest mainlands would be affected too. She should only use that attack as a last resort, she decided.

As she hovered there, thinking hard about what she should do, it suddenly hit her. She was going about this all wrong! Both of them were! She grinned as an idea slowly but steadily took shape in her mind. It would take a lot of long, hard work, but she had a plan that would allow her to take out this typhoon all by herself. She hoped she could pull it off. It would be very difficult with her injured foot, but the pain and work would be well worth it if she could make Vegita good and surprised!

Well, there was no time like the present! First, she knew she had to find Vegita, as even in the short duration in which she'd allowed time to flow, she had been able to sense his rapid movement deep into the heart of the storm. She honed in on the precise location of his chi signature, and then she stopped time and began making a beeline for him. For her plan to work, she was going to want to move him out of the way.

Bulma only had to fly a short thirty miles out to find him. As she had sensed, Vegita had flown directly into the storm, and he was poised in mid-air for a blast against the wind. Bulma grinned. It hadn't occurred to her until just now that this was Vegita's kind of battle - direct confrontation with a powerful enemy. He thrived in an environment like this. Oh well. Too bad for him he was about to lose his shot! Grabbing him by one leg, Bulma flew him much farther out - one hundred and fifty miles at least - until he was a good distance away from the thinnest of the typhoon's outer cloud bands. Then, turning and looking with a frown at the dark clouds that stretched for as far as the eye could see, she quickly flew back out to the eye and went to work.

What Bulma had realized was this: the clouds that made up the visible part of the typhoon were nothing but water. If she could force all of these clouds to come together in the center, they'd be so concentrated that they'd be fairly liquid, and much easier to manage. All she had to do was blast the clouds together - in halted time, of course. Then, once she had them in a nice, manageable blob of liquid, she could simply push it all into the ocean and that would be the end of it. Not only would this eliminate all the storm clouds and rain, but it would also completely disrupt the wind patterns. Then the typhoon would either die out completely, or at the very most reform farther away. In either case, it would be completely out of their hair.

Bulma spent a good two hours and lots of energy on that typhoon. Slowly but steadily, she shaved off section after section from the eye, concentrating all the clouds and moisture into one big mass as she went. Whenever the mass of water got to be a little too large to tote around with her, she simply telekinetically pushed it down into the sea and kept going. After much work, she had submerged a good eighty to eighty-five percent of the typhoon, leaving only the less dangerous outer fringes, which by themselves were not likely to cause any real problems. By now she was panting terribly, and her strength was beginning to falter dangerously. Bulma was utterly exhausted, and her foot was throbbing so painfully that each pulse made her grit her teeth in pain. She would be feeling the effects of her efforts for a while; that was for sure.

By this time Bulma was so tired and sore that she could barely fly, but she wasn't too tired to gloat! Slowly - and rather shakily - she flew back out to where she had moved Vegita. When she had flown up alongside him, she first took a few moments to catch her breath, and then she finally allowed time to pick up where it had left off.

Vegita must have felt the jolt of being moved, because when Bulma resumed the flow of time, he almost immediately cut his blast short.

"What the hell…?" he exclaimed, steadying himself. He looked around until he saw Bulma, grinning at him but panting terribly. She was hovering unsteadily in the air, and it was easy to see that she was favoring her foot quite a bit from the way she held it up and balanced herself on the other as she flew. Despite her obvious fatigue and pain, however, she wore a triumphant smirk. She definitely looked proud of herself for some reason.

"What did you do, woman?" he demanded, glancing quickly around and taking note of the lack of inclement weather around them. He glared at her resentfully, as if she had played an insulting prank on him.

"It occurred to me," she explained in between heavy breaths, straightening up and smiling broadly at him, "that we were both doing this the hard way. I had the wrong idea from the beginning. Fighting against the wind wasn't going to be nearly as effective as just eliminating the thing in halted time." She explained to him how she had pushed all the moisture down into the ocean, and he listened quietly to what she said, his expression growing ever darker and more agitated. When she had finished, he scowled disapprovingly at her.

"And I suppose you expect me to congratulate you on your laziness," he said with a contemptuous sneer. "Forgive me if I don't bow down to you."

Bulma could feel the color rising in her cheeks. "Laziness!" she cried. "What the heck are you talking about?! I'm so worn out I can barely keep myself aloft! There was nothing lazy about what I did, Vegita!"

Vegita snorted. "Once again you're reverting to your old habit of relying on that one feeble technique," he said with a scornful scowl. "How many times have I ordered you not to do that? You simply refuse to listen to good sense!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. So that's what was eating him. "Vegita!" she groaned. "Give it a rest! Just because I did something by a simpler method doesn't mean that I'm being lazy! I'm sorry, but my teleport technique is neither feeble nor a handicap to me! You're just unwilling to accept the fact that I got the job done before you could!" She planted her fists on her hips and stuck her tongue out at him.

Vegita snorted again. "Don't be stupid," he jeered at her. "Just because your inane method achieved the goal more quickly doesn't mean that it's the most effective one. Just look at yourself; you're exhausted! You look as though you might drop into the sea at any moment!"

Bulma laughed. Oh, the heck with it, she thought. He wasn't going to be satisfied unless he managed to prove some kind of point - regardless of which one. She might as well just give in on this one and be done with it. "Yeah, that's true," she said with a grin. "I suppose you might have a point about that, but just the same," she said, sticking her tongue out at him again, "I still think I made the right choice. If nothing else, I got a good workout from it all. I don't suppose one or two of those could hurt me all that much."

"I don't dispute that," he replied with an emphatic grunt, "but that by no means excuses your actions."

Bulma laughed again and she tackled him in mid-air, swinging around behind him and locking her arms playfully around his neck. "Don't be such a jerk," she teased him, kissing him affectionately on the cheek. "You're just jealous that you can't do what I can do!"

Vegita's eyebrow twitched, and he didn't smile. "What?" he snapped.

Bulma had struck a nerve, but she didn't catch the warning signs in time. "My teleport technique," she said, resting her chin on his right shoulder. "You still haven't been able to get it right yet, have you?"

Vegita scowled. "So what if I haven't?" he growled. "Don't you dare imply that I would envy you for having to resort to such pathetic means! I'm warning you now, woman; if your intention is to make me angry, you're succeeding admirably!"

Bulma finally realized that she'd stepped out of line. "I'm sorry, Vegita," she apologized. "I never meant anything by it. Besides," she added, shrugging and yawning. "You're not the only one who hasn't been able to pick it up. Kuririn and Yamucha can't figure it out, and neither can Piccolo, Goku or Gohan." She tightened her grip around his neck and relaxed her legs a little. It felt good to hold onto Vegita like that and give a much-needed break to her sore foot and the rest of her muscles. She snuggled her face down against his neck and gave a heavy sigh of fatigue.

Vegita bared his teeth furiously. It most certainly did _not_ please him to be lumped in with the rest of those fools. Scowling impressively, he folded his arms, resolving to completely ignore Bulma until she realized what a mistake she'd made and begged him to forgive her. Such insults were unacceptable.

Of course, Vegita didn't know too much about women, and with as much as he might have thought he had known about Bulma, he had made a pretty faulty prediction about her. None of these ideas had entered Bulma's head at all. In fact, not much of anything had; she had fallen asleep! The soaking she'd gotten from her exploits with the typhoon had left her damp and quite chilled, but even that hadn't been enough to outweigh her fatigue. Of course, being up against Vegita hadn't helped either. His body had radiated a pleasant, tingling warmth into hers, and this had only served to intensify her drowsiness.

It took Vegita a minute to realize what had happened, and suffice it to say that he was not satisfied with the results his silent treatment had gotten him. Growling in frustration, he unwound her arms from his neck, and she promptly slid off of his back and fell down to the water below.

Bulma hadn't been too far gone when Vegita had let her fall, so she did manage to come to again before she hit the water. She didn't wake up fast enough to do anything about her predicament, however. With a surprised cry, she landed back-first into the water. She came up spluttering and coughing, wondering what the heck had just happened to her.

"What did I do?" was the bewildered question she asked Vegita when he flew leisurely down to smirk at her. "Did I nod off or something?"

Vegita snorted. "You're such a fool," he scolded her. "Letting yourself just drop like a rock into the sea! It's inexcusable!"

"Yeah, well I'm a tired fool," she grumbled, floating up out of the water and shaking herself off a little. She looked really pathetic, and she was undeniably soaked. "I need to get back to the island and set up the house," she said in a dull, weary voice. "If I put it off much longer, I won't last long enough to make it all the way back." She took off at a fair clip more slowly than usual, but with the earnestness of one who knows that haste is advisable.

Snorting derisively, Vegita took off after her. "Don't waste my time," he snapped, grabbing her roughly out of the air and shifting her into a reclining position in his arms. "You'll never make it back before daybreak at the rate you're going."

Bulma didn't struggle against him at all, but she did look up in surprise. All at once a depressing thought occurred to her, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Vegita," she said, lowering her eyes. "I forgot that it was your house too. I didn't think about the fact that you'd have to wait on me. I guess I am moving kind of slow right now."

Vegita scowled. "You're such an idiot," he said in an irritated tone of voice. "You've dropped into the water once already. What makes you think you can keep from doing it again? A weakling like you ought to know when to admit defeat."

It occurred to Bulma that this was Vegita's way of covering for the fact that he was looking out for her. She let out a relieved sigh and settled comfortably into his arms, snuggling as close to him as she could.

"I love you too, Vegita," she sighed, smiling and closing her eyes contentedly.

Vegita only grunted in return. Apparently what his father used to say was true, and you just couldn't put sense in a fool's brain. She might never realize how dangerous it was for her to rely so heavily on that one technique, but perhaps if he trained her hard enough, it would be less worrisome. All the same, it was impressive that she had managed to subdue the storm as well as she had, especially considering the fact that she was doing it with a lamed foot. Of course, he wasn't about to just tell her that!

As they shot through the air at Vegita's characteristic breakneck pace, Bulma couldn't help wishing that the trip would take a little longer than she knew it would. She felt so warm and comfortable in his arms, despite the chilly dampness of her clothes and skin. Wouldn't it be nice if she was able to drift off to sleep with him there holding her like that? She smiled dreamily at the thought of it, and she knew that it would be even better to do that at home and in bed, where they were both sure to be more than comfortable and dry. Oh well. Maybe before long she'd be able to convince him that she was really serious enough about her decision from before. Her mind hadn't changed on the matter, and she knew that it wasn't going to, either. She hoped he wouldn't take too much convincing. It was looking to be a cold, lonely night tonight, and she wasn't looking forward to trudging up to her bed by herself. Letting out a silent but dejected sigh, she just resolved to enjoy the feeling of being in his arms while it lasted. She didn't know how things would play out in the future, but for now, this was good enough.

With Vegita's flying, it only took them a few minutes to get back to the island, and all too soon for Bulma, he dropped to the ground a few feet away from the site where their capsule house had been. He set her down on her feet, and Bulma - stifling another yawn - dug the capsule out of her pocket. She pressed in the button and tossed it out some twenty yards away. In a split-second, their house had popped up in front of them.

They went inside, and upon reaching the stairs, they both walked up together. However, when they passed Vegita's room, they parted as Vegita took the first few steps inside. Bulma was suddenly seized by a panicky, urgent impulse. She wanted to try again. She wanted to ask him to let her join him tonight, and even if all they did was sleep, it wouldn't matter. She didn't want to be alone. If she was going to do something, though, now was the time. Bulma didn't take any more time to think about it. She followed him in a couple of steps and lightly touched his arm with her fingertips, causing him to stop. He didn't say anything, but he turned and looked back at her, letting his irritated expression do the demanding of an explanation for him.

An unexpected - and entirely welcome - surge of courage welled up inside of Bulma. "Let me stay with you tonight," she begged eagerly, ignoring the color that had already begun to rise in her cheeks. "Please?"

Vegita noted the earnest sincerity in her face, and he sighed. How many times was he going to have to endure this torment? If she kept testing his resolve like this, he wasn't going to be able to protect her from her recklessness forever. Even he had limits.

"I want to be with you," she urged softly. "Please don't make me sleep alone tonight, Vegita. It'll be so much nicer if I can be here with you instead." She looked up at him with a gentle, entreating gaze, and it was nearly more than Vegita could stand.

"I've told you before what I want you to do," he said finally. His voice was firm, but he wasn't looking her in the eyes. "You aren't ready yet, woman."

"W-we don't have to do anything more than sleep," she stammered, blushing furiously. "I just wanted… you know… to be near you."

Vegita studied her face for a few moments, frowning slightly. Apparently she placed a considerable amount of trust in ability to control himself. Although he wasn't about to tell _her_, he rather doubted that he shared her confidence in his strength of will. Nevertheless, he couldn't bring himself to refuse her - not now, and not when she begged him like that. How was she able to break him so easily?

Vegita turned around and swiftly took Bulma in his arms. "Do you really want to stay?" he asked, carefully watching her expression for any signs of doubt or hesitation. She just smiled lovingly at him and nodded.

"Yes," she said softly. "As long as I'm with you, I want it more than anything else."

Vegita let out a defeated sigh and shook his head. There went his last chance to spare himself the torment of having to be so near her without fulfilling his desires. He wondered if he'd be able to get any sleep at all tonight. He looked hesitantly into her wide, blue eyes – full to the brim with love and adoration. She looked so damned happy that he'd never be able to send her away now. Damn it all; why did she have to test him so terribly?

Bulma knew that she had won. "Thank you, Vegita," she murmured, wrapping her arms behind him and kissing him full on the lips. Letting out an anguished groan muffled by their kiss, he slid his arms around behind her as he kissed her back. He wasn't going to be able to stand much more of this before he lost control of himself altogether. He just couldn't make himself refuse her any longer, though. It was just too much for him to resist. They remained in their silent, loving embrace for another minute more, but eventually they let go of each other and both glanced over at the bed.

"Did you want to stay in those wet clothes?" Vegita asked gruffly, flushing a little as the thought of her shedding her garments had awakened even more of his infuriating urges.

Bulma looked down at herself, and her sense of modesty suddenly kicked in. "Er…" She faltered. "Well, if you want me to, I suppose I can take them off…"

Vegita chuckled at her uncomfortable reaction and shot her a wry smirk. "Frankly, I wouldn't mind if you wore nothing at all," he jeered at her. "That isn't what I asked you though, is it? I asked if _you_ wanted to stay in your wet clothes."

Bulma had turned a furious shade of red by now, and she had to gulp a few times before she found the words she wanted. "Well…" she began, choosing her words carefully. "I do think it's rather silly of me to ask you to sleep alongside someone who's likely to keep you nice and damp all over for the rest of the night." She braved a smile at him, and he smirked back.

"Do you want to go to your room and change your clothes, then?" he asked her, his smirk fading a little.

That idea hadn't occurred to Bulma. It would be easier that way, of course, but as she looked up at Vegita, she knew that she didn't want it that way. What reason did she have to be nervous? This was the man she loved! Why should she have difficulty removing her outer layers of clothing in front of him when he'd already seen her in a bikini swimsuit? If she left her undergarments on, it would be just the same thing, wouldn't it?

She steeled her nerves and looked bravely back up at him. "No," she said decisively, although she was nevertheless unable to keep her voice from shaking a little. "I think I'll just take these wet things off for now. I'll be perfectly comfortable sleeping in my underwear."

At first, Vegita seemed pretty skeptical that she'd really go through with it. However, when he saw the look of determination and lack of fear in Bulma's eyes as she began to pull off her shirt, he realized that she was truly serious. He gawked in dumbfounded amazement as she slowly peeled the uncomfortably damp layers of clothing from her body with somewhat shaky hands and dropped them in a pile on the floor off to the side. When she had finished, all that remained were her bra and panties. She'd even removed her shoes and watch.

Vegita took this opportunity to take in as much detail as he could while the lights were on. Her aqua hair fell about her face in damp, unkempt tresses that curled at the tips where they met her shoulders. Her entire body was shivering slightly - both from the sudden chill of the air touching her wet skin and also from her nervousness - but her cheeks were a warm, rosy pink. She smiled timidly up at him and waited nervously for him to tell her what he wanted her to do next.

Vegita didn't say anything to her; he didn't need to. His eyes told her everything on their own. There was raw, savage desire blazing within them, and they told Bulma that Vegita was fighting a new, terribly formidable foe - himself. She realized that she was putting him through hell right now, and that it was taking all the strength and restraint he had to keep from losing control. She stepped more closely to him and gently placed her hands on either side of his face, fixing her stare on his eyes and smiling tenderly at him.

"You don't have to hold back if you don't want to," she said softly, pressing her body against his and wrapping her arms around his neck. She leaned her face in next to his ear and tickled it with her breath. "I'm ready for you, Vegita," she whispered. She leaned back to look him in the eyes, and she gave him a soft, gentle smile. "There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'm prepared for what you want. I know exactly what I'm saying, and I promise that tomorrow morning there'll be no regrets. Please trust me."

Vegita pulled her to him in another one of those crushing embraces of his. "Trust you," he chuckled in a dry, raspy voice. "You're asking _me_ to trust _you_?"

"I know you want me," she said softly. "I want you too. I don't want to see the worry and frustration in your eyes; I want to take it all away. Can't I try?"

Vegita grit his teeth and held her even more tightly. God yes, he wanted her! He wanted her so badly that he couldn't stand it, and he was frighteningly aware that his restraint was rapidly crumbling away.

"I trust you so much," she murmured, smiling and kissing him gently on the side of his face. "You don't have to try to protect me like this. I already know that you won't hurt me." She pulled away from him to look into his tortured eyes, and she offered him the sweet reassurance of her smile. "Make love to me, Vegita," she said softly, cooling his feverish cheeks with soft, delicate kisses.

That had done it. Vegita could endure no more. With a defeated groan, he seized her lips in his and kissed her with more force and passion than he'd ever dared allow himself. Bulma kissed him back just as eagerly, whining a little and shuddering with pleasure as he slid his hands down to the small of her back and slowly kneaded the exposed flesh. As he slowly made his way up her back, she dug her fingers down beneath the coarse, bristly hairs on his head and roughly massaged his scalp with her fingertips. Before long, she began to hear a peculiar - but not altogether unpleasant - vibration emanate from his throat, and she suddenly realized that the sound he was making was an awful lot like purring. Had her lips not been as indisposed as they were, they might have cracked into a grin of fond amusement.

Eventually, Vegita guided her to the bed, and after somehow forcing himself to break his lips away from Bulma's, he gently lifted her into his arms and set her down on it so that she was lying in its center. Then, straightening up and panting a little as he kept his fierce, hungry gaze on Bulma, he silently began to undress.

Bulma had become rather breathless herself, and all she could do now was stare - transfixed - as Vegita slowly removed his shirt, boots, and leggings. As each part of his lean, muscular body was revealed to her, she could feel her face growing warmer from the flush that rose in her cheeks. Although she was quite excited, she was understandably also fairly nervous and embarrassed. She was terribly afraid he would think she looked foolish if he caught her staring openly at his nether regions, so she instead concentrated on his face. She hoped for all she was worth that he wouldn't be put off by how awkward she felt.

When Vegita had completely undressed, he slowly climbed onto the bed and knelt beside her. She had begun to look a little nervous already, but she wasn't exactly afraid. She hoped he knew that, and that he wouldn't mistake any of her hesitation for fear.

Vegita slowly and gently leaned over Bulma and kissed her. He ran his hands down her shoulders and then moved them slowly and sensuously down her arms before resting them on her hips. Bulma lifted her arms and wrapped them around behind him, pressing her fingertips deeply into the warm flesh of his back. She was so terribly new at this. She really had no idea what she was supposed to do. She only hoped that whatever she was doing, she was doing it right.

Vegita made no complaints, however. The only sound he made was that low, growling purr of his. It was as if whatever Bulma did aroused him even more. She couldn't understand it, but she had to admit that she liked it, and that she was really beginning to feel the same way.

Slowly, and rather timidly, she grasped Vegita's left hand and guided it behind her back to the clasp on her brassiere. Vegita understood what she wanted him to do, but not how he was supposed to do it. He mistakenly tugged at the clasp with too much force and snapped off the little hooks. Bulma didn't mind though, and she kissed him all the more earnestly to assure him that such was the case. She helped Vegita to gently remove what was left of her clothing, hoping he couldn't feel the way her heart was racing as his skin rubbed against hers.

Only one man had ever seen her completely nude, and that had been Yamucha. Even then, it had only happened because he had accidentally looked in on her while she was taking a shower. She was terrifically nervous, and she was trembling a little too, but when Vegita pulled away from her to look down at her, she could almost instantly feel her apprehensions begin to melt away. There was a strangely soothing gentleness in his gaze while he surveyed the entirety of his woman, and the gleam in his eyes told her that he liked what he saw very much. He kissed her tenderly on the forehead and fixed his eyes on her flushed, quivering face.

"You're trembling," he said softly. "Are you afraid of me still?"

"No!" she cried, clutching at the sheets with one hand and sitting up a little to kiss him fervently. "No, it isn't that! I'm just kind of embarrassed…" She lowered her eyes and blushed even more fiercely. "You seem so good at this, but I know nothing. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She looked helplessly up at him. "I can't help feeling nervous and embarrassed to let you see me… like this…" She looked down at herself and giggled nervously. "I'm sorry, Vegita."

Vegita tipped her head up by her chin so that she was looking him in the eyes again. "You have _no_ reason to be embarrassed," he told her firmly. Bulma would have lowered her eyes again, but Vegita cupped her cheek in his hand and kept her eyes level with his. "You are beautiful," he said fiercely, "and if you have something to be ashamed of, I certainly don't see it. Stop being such a fool."

Bulma could feel herself grow even redder in response to his words, but she smiled just the same. "I'm sorry, Vegita," she said again, kissing him gently on his cheek. "I know I'm just being silly, but this _is_ new to me. I can't help letting it get to me a little." She lovingly touched one side of his face with her fingers and smiled apologetically at him. "I love you so much, Vegita," she sighed, "and I want so very much for you to enjoy this."

Vegita grasped her hand in his own and kissed it gently. "I know I will," he said, looking back at her with eyes that blazed like two bright stars, "and so will you, do you understand? I have no intention of rushing anything, because I will see to it that you learn just how wisely you have chosen. You are mine, and I will give you pleasure tonight that will prove it to you. On that you have my word."

"Oh, Vegita," she sighed, wrapping her arms around him as he leaned down to kiss her again. She believed him, and she was ready to surrender all control to him. She knew that he would make good on his promise, as her faith in him was unshakable. Bulma realized that after tonight, neither she nor Vegita would ever be the same again. After tonight, they would truly belong to each other. She felt a sudden surge of joy, and she realized that no other thought could ever have given her a greater feeling of happiness.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58: To Lose a Friend**

Neither Bulma nor Vegita woke up until very late the next morning. Bulma was the first to wake up, and when she did, she found herself lying on her side, held loosely in Vegita's arms with her back against his chest. Not wanting to waste the moment, she lay still and reflected upon the events of the previous night, smiling contentedly and closing her eyes again.

True to his word, Vegita had made the night a very enjoyable one. In fact, he had done things to her that she had felt certain would kill her with pleasure, or at least drive her mad from it. He had been utterly merciless with her; every time she'd begged him to give her a chance to recover from the last mind-blowing experience, he had only laughed sinisterly and begun again. Only when she was too exhausted to do anything more than breathe heavily did he relent and give her some peace. It had been so incredible and frighteningly good that she'd been completely helpless to resist. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to experience any sensations so powerful as the ones Vegita had awakened in her.

Yet, as passionately as they had made love, Vegita had indeed been exceptionally gentle and careful with her. Admittedly, Bulma had experienced some pain when things really got going, but it by no means could have compared to Vegita's surprisingly patient and dedicated take on foreplay, not to mention what he had awakened in her after the initial pain had subsided a little. Who would have thought that a man like Vegita could be such a considerate, patient lover?

She sighed and rested her arms upon his. She was so glad that he had been the one with which she'd decided to share this experience. She had never felt such bliss; nor had she been so contented and enamored with anyone else.

It wasn't long before Vegita awoke as well, and Bulma felt the steady rhythm of his breath in her hair quicken a little as his senses returned to him. He sniffed deeply once or twice, and Bulma could feel his arms tighten their hold around her waist and chest. She smiled again and opened her eyes.

"Good morning," she said softly, squeezing his hands a little with her fingers. Vegita loosened his hold on her then, and he pulled away from her a little so that she could turn onto her back to look up at him. He propped himself up on one elbow beside her and gazed down at her with a look of smug satisfaction.

"How do you feel?" he asked her, smirking as though he already knew the answer.

Bulma sighed and gazed lovingly back up at him. "If there is such a thing as heaven on earth, I do believe I've found it," she said with a luxurious yawn and stretch. She closed her eyes contentedly and snuggled in against his chest.

Vegita's smirk deepened. "Humph!" he grunted. "I thought perhaps you'd whine that I was too rough with you. You certainly made enough noise last night."

Bulma's cheeks reddened, and she opened her eyes and gave him a weak smile of apology. "Er... that wasn't really because I was in pain, you know," she said with an embarrassed laugh. "I was just kind of overwhelmed by the... the sensations I felt," she stammered, averting her eyes as she was unable to face the look of amusement he was shooting her. "I had never felt anything so extreme, and I just kind of lost control of myself. What are you complaining for, anyway? It was your own fault for being so relentless, Mr. 'no mercy for you, weakling, fu-fu-fu!'" She giggled and gave him a playful shove in the chest.

"Humph!" Vegita grunted again. "I suppose I'll have to work you harder next time then. Obviously if you don't feel the need to complain, I've been too lenient with you."

Bulma looked back up at him, and she couldn't keep from laughing when she saw the devilish smirk on his face. "You're such an animal!" she chuckled at him.

Vegita shot her a challenging sneer. "You have no idea," he growled with a sinister laugh.

She giggled and kissed him playfully. "I'm sure I'll find out more and more as time goes by. For now though, what say we get up and have some breakfast?"

"Mmm," Vegita said, growling and pinning her arms to the bed so that she couldn't escape him. He kissed her rather forcefully before raising his head and fixing her eyes in his fiery gaze. "You're not going anywhere," he growled in a very commanding tone of voice. "I'm not finished with you yet. Food can wait."

Bulma laughed. "So there _are_ things that interest you besides food and fighting!" she teased him.

Vegita shot her a wicked smirk and kissed her again, not as roughly as before, but much more deeply. He released her arms, and she wrapped them around behind him, closing her eyes and sighing. She didn't mind giving in to Vegita's amorous demands; she couldn't help admitting to herself that she was just as interested in accepting some more of what she had received last night.

A couple of hours later, Bulma somehow managed to stagger down the hall and to the bathroom to take a shower. She was fairly stiff and sore, but she was undeniably happy. She couldn't remember feeling so satisfied and carefree, and she considered it an acceptable compensation for being a little stiff and tender in certain areas of her body.

When she had finished with her shower, Bulma left the bathroom wrapped in a towel, and she headed to her room to fetch a clean set of clothes to change into. However, she found her route blocked by Vegita, who was leaning casually on one side of her doorway, now dressed, and with his arms crossed. She looked at him and grinned. "What do you want?" she asked him, crossing her arms in an unintentional mimicry of him. "You're in my way, Saiyan."

Vegita smirked at her. "You don't really think that is of any consequence to me, do you?" he jeered impertinently. "I do what I like, and whether you approve or not makes no difference to me. Just what is this, may I ask?" he asked slyly, snapping his hand forward and snatching the towel from her. "I suppose you think you still have something to hide from me?"

"Vegita!" Bulma shrieked, instinctively covering herself with her arms. "Give that back to me this instant!" She felt the color rise in her cheeks, despite the fact that she knew full well that Vegita wasn't looking at anything he hadn't already seen. One night of passion hadn't ridden her of all her modesty.

Vegita snorted. "You're still too prissy for my taste," he jeered, tossing her towel back to her. "I'll stamp that out of you before long."

Bulma stuck her tongue out at him. "You're still too much of an asshole for mine," she snapped, trying unsuccessfully to sound annoyed, "and no amount of stamping is going to get me anywhere on that account, I'm sure."

Vegita snorted again. "You're such a fool," he said derisively.

"That may be," she said, slipping seductively past him and grazing the tip of his nose with one finger. "But keep in mind, sweet prince, that I'm _your_ fool now."

"You damn well are," he growled, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her back up against him, "and you'd better never forget that!" He gave her right ear a little nibble for emphasis.

"Leggo of me!" Bulma gasped, laughing and jabbing him hard in the ribs with an elbow. "Knock it off, Vegita! I'm not going anywhere, I promise! Just let me go so I can put some clothes on, you oaf!"

Snorting again, Vegita let her go, and she dashed hastily to her closet before he could change his mind. Giggling a little when she noticed the way he was staring at her, she took out a fresh change of clothes and laid them out on the bed before finally removing her towel.

"Anyway," she said, trying to ignore his keen stare while she donned her panties. "I was wondering what you wanted to do today? Today's your last day off and all, so I figured I'd let you decide what you wanted to do for once. After we eat breakfast, what sounds like it would be the most fun way to waste your time?" By now she had slipped into her underthings, and she held up a light, button-down sun dress and fluffed it out. She looked up at Vegita and grinned cheekily as she waited for his answer.

"Humph!" Vegita grunted. "I had supposed you weren't going to bring it up at all. You're so damned set on restricting my training; I thought you were hoping I wouldn't notice that today is my last day of imprisonment."

"Yeah, well, I know better," Bulma laughed with a warm smile. "Besides, you've lived up to your part of the bargain. You've done a great job of winding down and taking it easy. I have no complaints. I'm perfectly happy with letting you resume your training."

"Well it's certainly good to know that I have your permission," Vegita said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bulma laughed. "I'm just saying that I don't feel the need to nag you about it anymore," she said, smiling at him. "I'm not as worried anymore that you're going to overexert yourself."

"And what about you?" Vegita snapped. "Are you still dead-set on spending another week on laziness?"

Bulma smiled. "Yeah," she said with a slight nod. She slipped into the dress she was holding and slowly buttoned it up. "Maybe I could survive without the extra week off, but I want it just the same. The only downside to it is that I won't have you here with me." She finished buttoning her dress and looked down thoughtfully as she sat down on her bed. "I suppose it won't be too bad, though," she said with a smile. "It'll definitely be boring around here, but I think I'll manage. Anyway, that's unimportant." She looked up at him, her expression becoming more serious. "What I need isn't really the same as what you need. I'm sure it's because Saiyans must heal faster than humans or something, but you don't look at all as strained as you did last week. I know you've recovered from your overexertion already. It's more important for you to resume your training at this point than it is for me, especially since you have such a heavy goal to work towards. I want very much to see you succeed in becoming a Super Saiyan, Vegita. Who knows? A week may make all the difference."

Vegita grunted in assent. He knew his priorities. Although he might have preferred staying here with her for a little while longer and enjoying the pleasures of sharing his bed with her, every second he spent away from his gravity room was another second lost in attaining his primary goal. Nevertheless, he scowled as he watched Bulma fall back onto her bed and stretch her arms and legs. It was true; he did want very badly to resume training. However, he wasn't entirely thrilled that she wasn't making a fuss about having to spend an entire week without him. It wasn't like her to be so amenable to what he really wanted, and it made him suspicious. She was up to something; he was sure of it.

Bulma kept an eye on Vegita's face, and when she noticed the way he was scowling, she wondered if maybe he was a little put out with her for not coming back with him. Although she knew it would have been silly of her to ask him to stay _here_ another week, she was pretty sure that he wouldn't mind having her around with him when he wasn't training himself into the ground. She felt her resolve weaken a little, but only enough to make her soften her expression and shake her head at him. She knew herself well enough to expect that if she went back now, she might be tempted to skip out on her vacation altogether and just pick up her training again. She wasn't a Saiyan, though, and she truly needed the extra week. She couldn't take that kind of risk like he could.

She really wished Vegita would stay another week with her, but she wouldn't have asked him to choose between his dream and his woman. It would have been cruel of her to do that, and besides, she had meant what she'd said; she really did want to see Vegita become a Super Saiyan, and not just for the upcoming battle, either. The main reason she wanted it so much was because she knew it meant so much to him. As painful as the thought really was, she also knew that to distract him now would only serve to stand in his way. She couldn't bring herself to be that selfish - not when it came to him. She wanted to see him succeed, and her own feelings weren't as important to her as that was. It really made her happy to know that she actually considered his dreams more important to her than her own selfish desires. It made her feel good about herself, and it confirmed for her the strength of her love for Vegita.

Feeling that she had lounged around long enough, she pushed herself up off the bed and walked over to Vegita, kissing him affectionately on the cheek. "Enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts," she said with a playful grin as she slipped past him and out the door, still limping slightly but not quite as noticeably as yesterday. "In another week, I'll be back home, and you'll have to continue wasting your time on training a hopeless weakling like me. Come on then; I'll make us some breakfast."

Grunting in agreement but scowling nonetheless, he turned and followed her down the stairs to the kitchen. It would have been all the better if she'd just come to her senses and return to training with him _now_. He had concluded long ago that even he couldn't stamp all the human weakness out of her, though. It was best to just put up with it and accept it as an inevitability.

- - - - -

Bulma and Vegita spent the day swimming and lounging together on the beach. It was a nice, peaceful way to end the week, and although Bulma was sad to see it end, she was nevertheless satisfied with it. Much as she wouldn't have admitted it aloud, she was looking forward to her week of peace too, despite how much she was going to miss having Vegita with her. The island was beautiful, and it was just the place to relax away her tensions and restore her wearied stamina.

They went to bed early - together, of course - and not a word was said about Vegita's leaving tomorrow, but when Bulma awoke late the next morning, she didn't have to look to know that he'd already gone. Sighing dejectedly, she got up, got dressed, and then went downstairs to make herself some breakfast.

Bulma decided to spend the day reading and tinkering with some old inventions she'd been working on, but she just couldn't seem to get into any of it. It seemed that no matter what she did, she just didn't get any fun out of it. She just kept getting more bored and depressed as the endless minutes ticked by. She was listless and unhappy, and she was on the verge of being miserable. She realized that this was the first time in a great many months that she was actually alone, and although she had thought that it was what she had wanted, she hadn't counted on its being this lonely. By the early hours of the evening, she'd concluded that she just couldn't stand it anymore. She needed to talk to somebody.

"The hell with it," she thought irritably, setting up her portable phone and calling home. "I haven't talked to Mom in a while anyway. Might as well call and see how everyone's doing."

Her parents' phone rang twice, and then the pleasant, cheerful voice of her mother came through to her. "Capsule Corporation," she answered cheerfully. "This is Mrs. Briefs speaking!"

"Hi Mom," Bulma said, smiling a little already as she imagined the disgustingly cheerful expression her mother always seemed to have plastered to her face – an expression she had grown quite fond of, despite what she might have said to herself and others. "It's me, Bulma."

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs squealed excitedly. "Hi, honey! I'm so happy you called us at last! I was beginning to think you had forgotten we even existed!"

Bulma laughed. "Sorry," she said. "I've been kind of busy with Vegita."

"Well, no one saw him come in this morning," Mrs. Briefs said no less excitedly, "but Yamucha informed us that he had retreated quietly to his gravity room and was training in there with a vengeance. He must have missed it a lot," she laughed.

Bulma grinned. "He probably did," she chuckled. "Poor Vegita. He's probably pretty happy to have his gravity room back."

"So how are you?" Mrs. Briefs asked her daughter brightly. "Are you still going to stay up there for another week?"

"I'm fine, and I guess so," Bulma answered, her smile fading slightly. "I just wanted to call and see how everyone was doing."

"Well, we're all okay," Mrs. Briefs said, "but I think a vote to kidnap you and haul you back here has come up a couple of times!"

Bulma laughed. "Oh come on!" she chuckled. "I haven't been gone for that long!"

"No, but it feels like you have," Mrs. Briefs replied. "Besides, there's a certain someone out here who's really been antsy since you left. He hasn't gone three hours without asking either your father or me if we've heard anything from you. He's making us crazy!"

Bulma grinned. She didn't have to ask to know that it was Yamucha whom her mother was talking about. All at once a sting of guilt hit her, and her grin faded. It had suddenly occurred to her that she was going to have to tell him everything. Poor Yamucha... She knew he was going to take this whole Vegita business really hard. She had no idea how she was going to break it to him, but she felt that she ought to tell him soon, or he was going to discover it on his own, and that would be far worse.

"Man," she sighed dejectedly.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Briefs asked her.

"Mom, I need to talk to Yamucha as soon as possible," she replied after a short, awkward pause, "but I need to be face-to-face with him. When you and I are done talking, would you do me a favor and tell Dad I want him to show Yamucha where I am so he can visit me? Vegita's gone back already anyway, so it's just as well that Yamucha visits me now. I just really need to talk to him soon."

"Sure Bulma," Mrs. Briefs replied, quite obviously in the dark about all of it. "I don't know what all the urgency is about, but I'll tell him. Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. "I meant to ask you; how did your time alone with Vegita go?"

For a moment, Bulma came very close to blurting it all out to her mother right then and there, but in the end, she decided against it. It wouldn't be fair of her to drop this kind of bomb on her mom over the phone, any more than it would be for her to do it to Yamucha.

"Great," she replied with a warm smile. "I was really sorry to see him leave."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Briefs replied approvingly. "Oh, and your father has a bit of a bone to pick with you, young lady," she said, trying very hard to make her voice sound stern, but failing miserably.

"Uh-oh," Bulma said with a grin. "What'd I do this time?"

"Well, neither he nor I knows exactly what happened the night before last," she explained, a hint of mirth hanging about her words. "All we know is that at one minute the typhoon was there on top of you guys, and then at the next it was completely gone. Now, your father and I are pretty sure we know just who was responsible for this strange turn of events, but what we don't know is just how the said party accomplished it. Your father's fit to be tied because he's just as in the dark about this as the rest of the scientific community, and he doesn't think that's fair when he ought to have the inside scoop, even if he can't share it. He can be a bit of a child sometimes, Bulma."

Bulma laughed. "Well, you can tell him that I'll give him a full explanation when I get back," she laughed. "Poor Dad. I know it must be eating him up. I tell you what; explain to him about my teleport technique for me, and then tell him that I used that technique to do it. I'll fill him in on the details when I get back, but I'm not going to go into it any further right now. I've got something important to do, and I need time to plan for it."

"Okay, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said, sounding strangely subdued. "I'll let you go then. I'll pass your message about Yamucha along to him too. Just... do me a favor and be careful, okay dear?" she said after a short pause. "Don't ask me why now, but just please promise me that you won't do that teleport thing again until after I have a chance to talk to you about it. Will you promise me that?"

Bulma was understandably very puzzled about this, but since her mother never talked this way, she knew that something was up, so she agreed. "Sure Mom," she said. "We'll talk when I get back, then. Will that be okay?"

"That's fine," Mrs. Briefs sighed. "All right then. Goodbye until then, Bulma dear. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Bulma said. "You and Dad take care." They hung up then, and Bulma rested her chin on her hands for a moment, contemplating what her mother had told her. It was certainly very odd. Why would she not want Bulma to use her teleport technique? It didn't make any sense. She didn't understand it, but after a few moments she decided that it didn't really matter. It wasn't the most important order of business at the moment anyway. She had to figure out how she was going to break the news about her and Vegita to Yamucha. Sighing, she went into the kitchen to fix herself a small snack and a strong cup of tea. She was going to need all the strength she could get.

A little less than two hours later, Bulma could sense the approach of a large chi presence, but she could tell right away that it wasn't Yamucha; it was Vegita. She looked up at the ceiling in confusion as she honed in on it with her senses. Why was Vegita coming here? Shouldn't he still be training in the gravity room? Even before she'd begun training with him, he wouldn't leave the gravity room until late in the evening, and it wasn't like him to just break off his routine like this. He was approaching quickly too. She couldn't help wondering what this was all about, but she knew she was going to have to get Vegita out of here quickly. It wouldn't do for him to be here when Yamucha arrived; it would only make matters more disagreeable for the soon-to-be shattered fighter otherwise.

A few minutes later, Vegita landed outside the front door, and without the slightest announcement, he barged right in. Bulma looked up at the kitchen doorway.

"I'm in the kitchen," she called to him, frowning a little as she continued to wonder why he had come so suddenly.

Vegita stalked into the kitchen with a scowl plastered on his face and his fists clenched in tight balls. "You sound as though you were expecting someone," he said quietly, glaring accusingly at her.

"Actually, I was," Bulma replied, sending him a rather puzzled look in return, "but I wasn't expecting you. I could sense you coming though, and I have to say I'm a little confused. I figured you'd be training at this time of day. Hmph. Well anyway, the one I was really expecting was Yamucha, who," she added, looking down at her watch and frowning again, "will be here in less than an hour if my mom passed the message on to him right away."

"Is that so?" Vegita asked, his voice dangerously soft. He stood in the doorway and crossed his arms. "May I ask what message that was?"

"I wanted Dad to show Yamucha where the island was so that he could come visit me," she explained, frowning disapprovingly at his angry, challenging tone. "I figured I'd take advantage of the fact that I'd be alone with him to tell him about you and me. He still loves me, Vegita," she sighed, looking down and folding her hands in her lap, "and I don't want him to learn the truth by discovering it on his own when I get back. I'd rather tell him face-to-face; he deserves that much."

Vegita uncrossed his arms and his expression shifted dramatically to one of astonishment. "Is that why you summoned that cretin here?" he demanded incredulously. "Just for that?"

"Yes," Bulma said, glancing up at him with a very perplexed stare. "What other reason did you think I had?"

Vegita gritted his teeth and crossed his arms again, turning away from her a bit. "It's not important," he growled. "Just forget it."

He scowled again, and it suddenly dawned on Bulma just what reason Vegita'd had in mind. "Oh, Vegita," she groaned, shaking her head at him. "Please don't tell me you thought I'd do something so... so _wicked_! I love you," she exclaimed. "You have to believe me when I tell you that I'll never feel the same way about anyone else, and that I'd never even consider trying. Please try to trust me, Vegita," she said, getting up from her chair and walking over to him. "You are the _only_ one, and that is not going to change. If you don't trust me on this, you're never going to let me make you happy."

Vegita looked into Bulma's eyes, and he immediately found the sincerity he was searching for. "Humph," he grunted, turning away again. "I thought no such thing. I knew quite well that you wouldn't want a simpering worm like that, especially when you could have me. Quit putting such idiotic words into my mouth, woman, because I'm in no mood for your stupidity today."

He wasn't fooling anyone, but Bulma sighed and decided she might as well let him think that he was. "Well, at any rate," she said, looking at her watch again and frowning. "I need you to leave. It would be much easier for Yamucha if you weren't here when I break the news to him."

Vegita snorted. "Why the hell should I care?" he snapped. "That pathetic fool is a waste of my time and yours. I shouldn't have to do anything to make things easier for him!"

"Come on, Vegita," she begged. "I'm not asking you to do it for him. I'm asking you to do it for me."

Vegita scowled. "Why do you even bother with him?" he said angrily.

Bulma sighed. "Because Yamucha and I have been friends since I was sixteen years old," she said with a smile. "I don't want to hurt him any more than I have to. I don't like asking you for this, Vegita," she said, crossing her arms and frowning at him, "but I know what you'll do if you stay. You'll say something cruel to him, and that will only make things worse. My having to tell him about us will be bad enough without your sneering at him and rubbing it in his face. Please leave, Vegita. Do it for me?" She placed her hands on his cheeks and gently pulled his lips to hers. She kissed him gently but earnestly, and Vegita couldn't stop himself from curling his arms around behind her and pulling her up against him. When they finally separated, she looked imploringly up at him, and he growled an irritated growl.

"Damned sentimental fool," he muttered, turning away from her and scowling. "You're far more trouble than you're worth." Without another word he turned and left the kitchen, slipping silently out the front door before taking to the sky and shooting off toward Capsule Corporation. Bulma let out a relieved sigh. Well, she certainly hadn't expected Vegita to make a surprise visit, but thankfully, he had left without too much of a struggle. At least she could tell Yamucha the truth without his snarky assistance.

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later when Yamucha landed outside and came in through the same door. Bulma had sensed him coming a few minutes in advance, and had just made a fresh pot of tea for them.

"Bulma?" he called when he came in. "Where are you?"

"In here," she called from the kitchen. "Come in and sit down, Yamucha. I just finished making some tea."

Yamucha walked in and found Bulma sitting at the table with a steaming teapot in its center, and two mugs resting beside it. "Hi!" he cried, beaming at her. "Boy, it's great to see you, Bulma! I was worried sick when I first noticed you were gone, and even when your mother told me you'd gone on vacation, I was still a little worried about you, even if I did know it was silly, ha-ha! So this is where you've been all this time!"

"Yeah, it's been my home for a number of days now," she said, smiling at him as he sat down across the table from her. "A lot has happened here. That's the reason why I wanted you to come see me."

"Really?" he said interestedly. "Like what?"

Bulma sighed. He was so happy and carefree just now. She wondered if she'd ever see him this way again. It was killing her to have to tell him this.

"Oh, before you get started on that," he interjected, holding one hand up and bonking himself in the head with the other, seemingly for forgetting something. "I meant to tell you this right away. I passed Vegita on my way here. He was flying towards Capsule Corp., and he was heading really, really fast for the compound. I looked up at him as he passed over me, but he didn't even seem to notice me. Anyway, he was coming from the same direction I was going. Pretty weird, huh? Did you sense him when he flew over your island?"

Bulma saw no point in lying to him about it. She was going to tell him the truth anyway. "He never passed over here, Yamucha," she said quietly. "He was coming from here."

"Huh?" Yamucha asked, looking rather surprised. "From here? Did you send for him too?"

"No," she said quietly and calmly, her face devoid of all emotion save a hint of sadness that she couldn't suppress. "He came on his own."

"You mean... Vegita already knew you were here?" Yamucha said in amazement. "But I thought only your mom and dad knew!"

"Well you see," Bulma began, looking him straight in the eyes. "I didn't come here alone, Yamucha. I brought Vegita with me."

"You what?!" Yamucha gasped. "What on earth for?"

Bulma smiled and looked down at her mug of tea. "Because I wanted to help him relax," she explained. "I could see that he wasn't getting anywhere on his own, and besides, he was beginning to take his frustrations out on you. I thought the change of scenery would be good for him, and all the fun things there are to do around here would keep him from getting bored and frustrated."

Yamucha groaned. "Now Bulma, you should have known how stupid that was!" he said reproachfully. "I mean, come on! You and Vegita, alone on an island together? Please tell me you can see what's wrong with that picture! You're miles away from anyone out here! You practically offered yourself up to him on a silver platter! You should have known better than to put yourself in that kind of danger!"

Bulma didn't allow herself to become angry. She had expected this kind of reaction from him, and getting angry would get her nowhere. Nonetheless she glared stonily at him as she spoke. "I was never in fear of any danger," she said in a cold but calm voice, "and I had no reason to be. I respect your dislike of Vegita, Yamucha, and I truly understand why you feel the way you do. However, you should understand that his disposition toward me is anything but malicious. You need to understand that his feelings for me cause him to treat me in an extraordinarily different manner than he does you. He loves me, Yamucha," she said, the look in her eyes softening considerably. "He's already told me so himself, and I believe him."

At first, Yamucha only gaped at her in much the same way that he might have if she had slugged him in the stomach, but he soon returned to his senses. "Think very carefully about what you're saying, Bulma," he said earnestly, looking her straight in the eyes. "You know as well as I do that it can't be possible. Vegita's incapable of love - especially the kind I feel for you."

Bulma sent him a sad but understanding smile. "I know you truly believe that, Yamucha," she said gently, "and it wasn't a very long time ago when I would have agreed with you. That's just not the case anymore, though. It's true. Vegita loves me, and I..." She gritted her teeth as she fought mightily against the impulse to look down. She _would_ look him in the eyes when she told him this. She owed him that much. "I love him too," she said finally, looking at him with more than a little noticeable grief in her eyes.

Now Yamucha really did look like Bulma had hit him. "Please tell me it isn't true," he said hoarsely. "Tell me it's just a cruel joke!"

Bulma did look down then, and Yamucha understood immediately that she was telling him the truth. "No!" he choked out at her. "No! That isn't fair! That's not right at all! I loved you first, dammit!" He shot to his feet and slammed his fist on the table, flipping the teapot into the air and causing it to crash on the floor. Neither one paid it any attention, although his violent outburst had caused Bulma to flinch slightly. "Just how long has this been going on, Bulma?" he asked angrily, his face crimson with jealous fury.

Bulma looked sadly up at him. "Two days," she said quietly. "Two days ago I came to the realization that I was in love with him. I don't know how long it really was, though; I was in denial about it for a good, long time. I never meant for it to happen, but I can't just ignore it, either. I'm sorry it hurts you so, but I can't say that I'm sorry it happened. I love Vegita, Yamucha, and that isn't going to change."

"Stop saying that!" Yamucha yelled. "That man has no right to you, Bulma! He's a madman and a murderer! He'll take out all his violent rages on you, all the while claiming that he loves you! He'll use you to fulfill his sick fantasies and perversions, and you won't be able to do a thing to stop him! Not that you'd want to! Oh no, he's got you right where he wants you! He's got you believing that you're in love with him, and he's going to use that to his full advantage; I can guarantee it! He's preying on your emotions, you idiot! The man's an inhuman monster!"

"That is enough!" Bulma cried, jumping to her feet and balling her fists. Her chest was heaving, and there were already tears of anguished fury streaming down her face. "I know it's easier for you to think all these things about him," she snapped angrily, "and to assume that he stole me away from you by trickery, but dammit, Yamucha, this was my decision too! I can understand your being angry with him, but just keep in mind that I'm just as much to blame as he is about this!"

"Oh, honestly!" he yelled, rolling his eyes and balling his own fists. "Don't try to defend him, Bulma! The man seduced you, and all he wants is to trick you into his bed! You're just too naive and innocent to see what terrible things he intends to do to you!"

Bulma grit her teeth and held back the anger that was boiling inside her. Her anger and defensiveness about this delicate matter was not going to make things any easier on Yamucha, and angry though she was at his cruel remarks about Vegita, she still didn't want to hurt him any more than was inevitable. "I'm not being naive," she said firmly, "and I wasn't seduced. If anything, I'm the one who came on to him. I know you truly want to think that he'll just abuse me and toss me aside, but it just so happens that Vegita is more gentle and more loving with me than you could ever possibly give him credit for. He loves me Yamucha, and as hard as that may be for you to swallow, it is an undeniable fact."

Yamucha's face quickly turned an ashen gray. "I don't believe it," he said in a choked, raspy voice. "You've.... you've actually _slept_ with that bastard!"

Bulma's eyes opened wide and her face lost a good deal of color. How could he know that? She hadn't told him that! She grit her teeth again and looked down. It was none of his business, of course, and she honestly hadn't intended for him to know. She still couldn't see how it was so obvious, but now that he had guessed the truth, she wasn't going to deny it.

"_Damn him_!" Yamucha screamed, picking up the granite and cast-iron table and hurling it aside, sending it crashing all the way through the kitchen wall and out onto the sand. His chi was flaring a frightening bright blue, and his eyes were ablaze with fury. Bulma stepped back instinctively, staring open-mouthed at the enraged Yamucha. She had never seen him so angry before, and for the first time she could ever remember, she was afraid he might actually attack her. He was liable to do anything in such a crazy state of mind.

Growling ferociously, he lunged at Bulma and seized her shoulders, causing her to cry out in alarm. She had allowed him to do it, but that didn't mean that she had wanted him to. She had to try whatever she could to calm him down, or she was afraid she might hurt him in her efforts to defend herself. "Yamucha, please!" she begged him. "Please calm down!"

"How could you?" he yelled in her face, shaking her so hard that her teeth chattered. "Why? I've loved you for years! This man convinces you he's in love with you within a matter of days, and you're already his willing concubine?! How could you do this to me? How can I mean so little to you?"

Bulma shook her head at him. "Yamucha stop!" she sobbed. "It's not like that! My love for you was never like my love is for Vegita! With you there was always doubt; I never had that one moment of realization that told me without question that you were the one. It would have been cruel and careless of me to give myself to you with such doubts in my mind! Surely you can understand that!"

Yamucha just made a kind of choking snarl before shoving her away from him, causing her to stumble over her chair and crash onto the floor on her back. "This is just too much," he croaked. "I've had enough! Goodbye, Bulma!" He turned and bolted out the hole he'd created in her wall, leaving Bulma lying beside her upturned chair, dazed and emotionally as destroyed as her kitchen. She slowly picked herself up off the floor and limped unsteadily into the living room. She sank onto the sofa and began to weep as she came to the realization that her best friend would from now on be nothing but a stranger to her.

As Yamucha ran from the house, he caught sight of Vegita, who was leaning casually up against one of the trees lining the path to the beach. He must have turned around and followed him to the island. Yamucha stopped then, and he glared with no small degree of hatred at the man who had turned Bulma against him.

"Well, you've got what you wanted," he spat at Vegita with a scowl of disgust. "She's your devoted lapdog. I'm sure you're aware that what she wants from you is a lifelong commitment. I'm also sure that you intend to allow her to delude herself about you until you've finished with her, but at this point, I don't even give a damn. She deserves whatever she gets for ignoring me about you for all this time, and going and doing something so stupid. Congratulations, Vegita. You've done what I could never do. I'll bet you're damn proud of yourself!"

Vegita neither hardened nor softened his stony expression. "She isn't deluding herself," he said quietly. "I've told her what I want and expect from her, and she wants the same things from me. The fact that she has chosen to become my mate is our business, not yours, but I will tell you this much," he said, unfolding his arms and taking a menacing step forward. "She is _my_ woman, and if I ever again see you lay your hands on her like you did in there, it will be your very last act as a living creature. On that you have my word, you witless cretin. Attacking my woman is the same as attacking me, and I'm sure that even a _simpleton_ like you can deduce how I'd reward that."

Yamucha stood his ground and shot him a scornful laugh. "Death threats mean nothing to me now, you bastard," he chuckled harshly. "My life is all I have left to lose, and right now even that isn't worth all that much to me." Without another word, Yamucha shot into the sky like a rocket of misery.

Vegita watched him go, and when Yamucha had gone out of sight, he walked over to the house to inspect the damage. The hole in the side of the house was big enough for him to walk into, so he did. He glanced with a frown at the mess that Yamucha had made of the kitchen, and then he walked into the living room to find Bulma slumped over on the sofa, sobbing miserably into her hands.

"He isn't worth your tears," he said with an irritated snort, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall. "I say good riddance to trash like him."

Bulma gave a start and turned around quickly, her astonishment very plain on her tear-soaked face. After only a moment, however, she grimaced as though she felt she ought to have expected him to be there, and she let out a dejected sigh before turning back around. "He's probably never going to speak to me again," she murmured shakily. "I had to tell him the truth, but it's so hard to have him hate me like this." She sniffled once or twice, and she wiped her face dry with her arm. "I... I don't want to stay here," she whimpered, her shoulders shaking a little as fresh sobs threatened to break the surface. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I want to go home."

Vegita walked around in front of the couch, and he gripped her shoulders and pulled her up onto her feet in front of him. "Then you will leave with me," he said, his words sounding much more like a command than a request. "We'll go right now."

Bulma stared at him with an indecisive frown, but after glancing around for a few moments at the uninviting, lonely-feeling living room of the capsule house, she sighed and nodded dully. "All right," she whispered. "I'd like that. Thank you, Vegita."

They walked outside, and Bulma hit the recapsulation button outside the door. She hadn't bothered to move the table back inside beforehand, so when the house went back to its capsule form, the table remained on the ground where she'd left it. Bulma was too upset to really care, though. She stuffed the capsule into her pocket, and then she and Vegita took off for home. Even though she wasn't alone anymore, it seemed as though there would be no way to entirely banish the feeling of emptiness that had overwhelmed her.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59: The Riddled Book**

Naturally, no one had expected Bulma to return with Vegita that evening, so there was no one waiting up to greet them when they arrived. That was just as well as far as Bulma was concerned. She was in no mood to explain anything tonight anyway, so she and Vegita simply retreated quietly to his capsule house and went to bed. Bulma was so upset and emotionally drained that within minutes of hitting the pillow, she had already fallen fast asleep. Vegita hadn't really expected her to be in any kind of mood for much else anyway, so he didn't take it personally, and he didn't put up any kind of fuss. He had resigned himself to the fact that all Earthlings were unnecessarily emotional, and that even his woman was no exception. As much as he despised that fool Yamucha, and as much as he disliked the fact that Bulma held him in such high regard, he was willing to put up with her ridiculous depression about this for a while, at least. The important thing was that she was his, and that regardless of whatever misplaced affection she had for that simpering worm, her choice wasn't going to change. He figured that the rest would work itself out in time.

Grunting a little as he settled himself in beside her, he brushed some of the hair out of Bulma's face and gently pressed his lips against the soft skin of her cheek, snaking an arm over her and pulling her sleeping body more closely. She stirred a little, but she didn't awaken. He gently shifted her body snugly up against his and wrapped his arms possessively around her. He had a feeling that things were probably going to get worse around here before they got better, but since he felt more certain now that nothing would endanger her devotion to him, he suspected that it wouldn't concern him all that much.

- - - - -

When Bulma awoke the next morning, Vegita had already left for the gravity room. Yawning sleepily, she got up and dressed in her clothes from yesterday. She frowned as she took a quick look in the mirror before heading outside. She knew that today was going to be a very long day.

The exclamations of surprise that Bulma received from her parents when she walked into the kitchen during breakfast were tremendous, but she put up with them with no objections, and even grinned a little. She felt sure that this was nothing compared to what she'd get for the real surprise she had in store for them. After the repeated hugs and shouts of joy had subsided, Bulma sat down with her parents and began to discuss with them the events of the past week. She first told them about what had happened with the typhoon, just to lighten the mood.

"My word!" Dr. Briefs exclaimed, marveling at the ingenuity and abilities of his daughter. "I had no idea that your power gave you the ability to do something so tremendous! You're like something out of a comic book, sweetheart!"

"Just as long as it's not one of the kind where the women are naked, I'll take that as a compliment," Bulma chuckled. "I shudder to think what kinds of comic books _you_ read, Dad! Anyway, I would never have been able to do as much as I had if it hadn't been for all the fierce training Vegita's put me through up until now. I owe it to him, mostly. He sure was surprised when I showed up in front of him and he found that storm gone! Oh, I wish you'd seen the look on his face, you guys! It was priceless!"

Her parents both laughed at that, and Dr. Briefs exclaimed that the spiky-headed Saiyan should have expected nothing less ingenious from her. Grinning, Bulma then told them about the jellyfish sting, and how Vegita had carried her into the house so that she had been able to treat her envenomed foot. Naturally, her parents were both delighted to hear how kindly Vegita had treated their daughter, and Mrs. Briefs reminded Bulma that she had always thought Vegita was a very nice boy. Bulma laughed a little at that, but for once she nodded in agreement.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "Vegita is a nice guy, even though he doesn't really like to show it. I suspect that now that he's back at the compound, it'll be a little harder for me to catch that side of him; I'm sure he wouldn't want others to see it, since he seemed so unwilling to show it even to me."

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs grinned at one another, and then they both grinned at Bulma. "It sounds like Vegita's made quite an impression on you," her father said with a sly grin. "Maybe that island getaway scheme of yours stirred up a little tropical romance!"

"Ooh, do you suppose there may be something going on between them that we don't know about?" Mrs. Briefs gasped excitedly at him before shooting a teasing grin at Bulma.

They certainly didn't get the reaction that they'd expected from her. She smiled at them and shook her head. "You two just don't give it a rest, do you? You're so predictable," she chuckled, smiling at them in fond amusement. "For once though, you've hit the nail right on the head."

They gaped at Bulma, thunderstruck, and she folded her arms and rested them on the table. She waited for them to ask the questions she knew were dying to escape.

"J- just what do you mean by that?" Mrs. Briefs asked her. "Is something really going on between you and Vegita, Bulma?"

Bulma nodded. "That's right," she said with a smile. She let her parents sit there and wait for her to continue. They hadn't realized it yet, but Bulma was finally getting them back for all the years of teasing and obnoxiousness they'd given her about her love life. She was really enjoying making them sweat like this!

"Oh for heaven's sake, what is it, then?" Dr. Briefs exploded impatiently. "You have to give us more detail than that, Bulma!"

Bulma fought back the grin that was threatening to surface. He'd asked for it. "Well, I suppose you could say that Vegita and I are engaged," she remarked with a casual shrug. "In all fairness though, I doubt Vegita is familiar with matrimonial concepts, so I can't really use that word to describe our state of affairs. For lack of a better explanation, that's pretty much what's happened, though."

At first, Bulma's parents just stared at her, too astonished to speak. Bulma stared politely back at them, thoroughly relishing the looks of shock on their faces. She had paid them back all right; she'd paid those two busybodies back with interest!

Finally, Mrs. Briefs found her voice again. "I'm almost certain that Vegita had wanted this," she said slowly, scrutinizing her daughter's innocent, polite expression with the critical eye that only a mother could use, "but are you absolutely sure that this is your wish too, Bulma? You do realize, of course, that you're saying that Vegita is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, don't you? Is this truly the way you feel?"

Bulma fixed an unwavering stare on her mother and replied with a grave nod of her head. "Yes," she said firmly. "That is exactly how I feel. This time there aren't any doubts to make me question myself, either. I've found him, Mom - the one I know I was meant for - and you were right; I _know_."

Mrs. Briefs smiled then, and as her eyes filled with happy tears, she nodded in understanding at her daughter. "Oh Bulma," she cried, hastily wiping her eyes dry and getting to her feet. "I can't tell you how happy I am for you, sweetie!" She bustled around the table and flung her arms around Bulma's neck, hugging her fiercely. "I knew there was something special about Vegita! I've never been so happy to be proven right!" Bulma let out a happy laugh and stood up to hug her back.

"Thanks Mom," she giggled. "I knew you would be."

"Now wait just a darn minute!" Dr. Briefs interjected. "What makes you so certain, anyway? I thought you were afraid of the boy! How could this have happened so suddenly?"

Bulma smiled. "It didn't happen suddenly, Dad," she said, sitting back down and shaking her head at him. "It happened gradually - during all the time I've been training with him. I just didn't allow myself to realize it until a few days ago, but I know for certain that I love him, and I know with just as much certainty that he loves me too."

Mrs. Briefs laughed and rested her hands on Bulma's shoulders. "She knows, dear," she said, giving them a squeeze. "She knows her own heart. Our daughter has grown up, you know," she added with a warm smile at him. "All I can say is that it's about time! I was beginning to think that she'd never settle down with a nice man and start a family!"

Bulma choked a little, and Mrs. Briefs grinned at her husband. He grinned back and immediately took up the metaphorical baton his wife had just passed him.

"Well, now that I think about it," he remarked, rubbing his chin and frowning impressively. "I _could_ fancy myself a grandfather…"

"N-now wait just a minute!" Bulma stammered at them. "I never said anything about…!" All at once she noticed the mischievous grins on their faces, and she realized that they had done it again. "You guys are impossible," she grumbled as her face began to burn. They laughed triumphantly at her, and she scowled at them on principle. It didn't take her long to begin smiling again, though. As obnoxious as they were, they were her parents, and she loved them all the more for it. She wouldn't have felt right if they'd handled it any other way; she'd have thought there was something wrong.

"Well anyway," she sighed, "now you both know what's going on. I'm just glad you guys took the news better than Yamucha did."

Immediately, the atmosphere of the room changed dramatically. "He took it pretty hard, did he?" Mrs. Briefs asked in a gentle, sympathetic voice.

"Yeah," Bulma replied, lowering her eyes. "I don't think he's ever going to speak to me again; he was so terribly hurt about it all. I can't sense him out here, so I know he didn't come back to the compound. I don't know where he's hiding out, but I think he's avoiding me, and I really can't say that I blame him if he is," she added with a dejected shrug.

Her parents glanced at each other for a moment, and then Dr. Briefs nodded in understanding at his wife before quietly getting up and leaving to go out to his lab. This was a job for a mother.

"It's such a cruel decision," Bulma sighed, plunking her head down on her arms and grimacing. "Having to choose between your best friend and the man you love... Yamucha didn't leave me with any other choice, though. The man just couldn't let go of something that should have died years ago. God, Mom!" she cried, shutting her eyes and gritting her teeth. "Why does love have to be so unfair? Vegita and I found each other, but where has that left Yamucha? I can't stand having to do this to him!"

Mrs. Briefs nodded in understanding, and she rubbed Bulma reassuringly on the back. "You're right," she agreed. "Love is like life; it isn't very fair. There was no way that the situation among you three could have been resolved without hurt feelings, and that's just the way it was. I only hope that you and Vegita truly find happiness together, and I hope that Yamucha can find love and happiness with another someday."

Bulma sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she said, lifting her head and forcing a smile. "He's going to make some girl really happy… when and if he moves on, that is."

There was an uncomfortable silence then, as both women tried to come up with what to say next. Finally, Bulma opted for changing the subject.

"Er… well anyway," she faltered, straightening herself up rather stiffly. "I also wanted to talk to you about something else," she began, thankfully remembering the conversation she'd had with her mother last night. "What was that all about on the phone, anyway? Why did you ask me not to use my teleport technique? You really confused me, Mom."

Bulma could tell by the way Mrs. Briefs stiffened in her chair and immediately bit her lip that this was a subject she hadn't exactly looked forward to explaining. "Bulma honey," she said, looking up and setting her jaw. "There's something I have to tell you. It's something I had originally intended to tell you when you had a child of your own; that's the custom in my family anyway, but nothing like this has ever resurfaced until now."

"I don't understand," Bulma said. "What are you talking about? What's resurfaced?"

Mrs. Briefs sighed. "I'm talking about something that happened to an ancestor of mine – and yours – many generations ago," she said, looking at Bulma and frowning unhappily. "He was a man, and although his name has been forgotten over the years, we haven't forgotten _him_, or what happened to him." She sighed again and folded her arms. "I'm going to tell you what my mother told me," she said, "and what her father told her. I want you to seriously consider what I have to say, because I think it's very important, especially for you, Bulma."

Bulma nodded, but she couldn't completely banish the look of skepticism from her face. She was trying to figure out just what all this might have to do with her teleport technique. Still, her mother was never so grave and serious with her, so she was intrigued nonetheless.

"All right," Mrs. Briefs said with a solemn frown, walking toward the staircase and motioning for Bulma to follow. "Come up to my room, Bulma. I want to show you something too."

Bulma tilted her head to one side as her curiosity made her want to leap up and race her mother up. This was getting to be very, very strange. She followed her mother upstairs and into her parents' room, where Mrs. Briefs motioned for her to sit on the bed, which she did. She watched as her mother went to the closet and reached up onto a shelf before pulling off a large, flat box. She blew a little dust off of the lid before walking over to the bed and sitting down beside Bulma.

"What's that?" Bulma asked her, pointing at the unremarkable, unmarked box with more than a little interest. "You're driving me nuts here, Mom! Tell me what's going on, already! Who's this man, and what's he got to do with that box you have there?"

Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Don't be so impatient, dear!" she chuckled. "I'm starting! Okay, so I'll start off by telling you the story we always tell our kids when they come of age. I'll get to the box here in a minute." She took a deep, calming breath, and she began her story. "Several centuries ago, there was a young man who lived in a small mountain village. He was a happy man with a wife and son, and he was quite prosperous too. They say he was extremely intelligent; he was an inventor - just like you and your father - and he created many things that made life in his village easier for everyone. However, at some point they say he began saying strange things. They say he had begun to claim that he had uncovered the secrets of time itself, and that soon, he would be able to put his theories into practice. No one knew exactly what he was talking about; not even his own family could understand the real meaning of his words. He was so well liked in his community that no one wanted to admit that he might have been going a little mad, but even his family was beginning to get a little nervous. Anyway, he had amassed a small fortune through the years, and he was said to have been a very kind friend and a loving father and husband. That's why no one could understand why he would just suddenly disappear."

Bulma arched an eyebrow. "Disappear?" she repeated.

"Exactly," Mrs. Briefs replied. "One day he was there in the village, and the next he was gone. The only people who had any explanation at all for his disappearance were his wife and son. They both claimed that he had come to them the previous evening and told them that he had made an incredible, terrible discovery. He had said that although he was unable to give them the exact details, he assured them that there was only one course of action for him. He said he had to leave, and that although he was never to be allowed to return, he promised to always watch over them. He had then kissed them both, told them not to worry about him and to please take care, and then he'd simply disappeared before their eyes."

"What? You mean vanished?" Bulma gasped. "As in, without a trace?"

"Not quite," Mrs. Briefs replied. "There was something left behind when he disappeared. It was a book - a large, leather-bound book - and it was lying on the floor right where he had been standing."

"A book?" Bulma asked, arching another eyebrow. "But why…?"

"No one knows exactly why or how it got there," Mrs. Briefs continued. "That's just another part of the mystery. Although the townspeople didn't exactly believe their story, even they couldn't explain the appearance of the strange book. It was all very odd, but no proof of foul play was ever found, so the mystery remained. That's pretty much it," she said at last, looking at Bulma and shrugging. "That's the legend that's been passed down through my family from the very son of that man. Until a week ago, that's all I thought it was - just a legend. Even though I had the book, I still didn't believe…"

"Wait a minute!" Bulma cried. "You have that book?"

"Yes," Mrs. Briefs replied solemnly. "It's been treated as kind of a lucky charm that has been passed down to the first child of each generation of my line. I was going to give it to you when you and Vegita had your first child, but I guess it won't hurt to bend the rules a little. Just so you know, though," she said with an impish wink, "this is one grandchild you owe me, Bulma. I'll give it to you now, but I do expect payment!"

"Er…" Bulma stammered, looking more than a trifle flustered. "We… that is, Vegita and I… we haven't really considered… I mean, that is, I don't think we…" She looked up at her mother's polite face and sighed angrily. "Oh, for heaven's sake," she grumbled irritably. "Would you stop springing those crazy ideas on me, Mom?"

Mrs. Briefs giggled happily. "All right, Bulma," she promised her, her expression less than believable.

"At any rate," Bulma said, her expression hardening a little, "I understand why you're worried now. This man who disappeared - he never came back, did he?"

"No, he didn't," her mother replied. "It was all very mysterious and very sad. His family missed him terribly, and although they waited and waited, hoping one day he'd turn up again, he never did."

"And you think that his connection to the knowledge of time might have had something to do with that," Bulma continued, furrowing her brow. "Also, that my connection with it might cause the same thing to happen to me."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Mrs. Briefs said, nodding. "Now do you understand why I was so afraid of your using that technique? No one else in our family has ever had the abilities you do, with the possible exception of that man I told you about, and he disappeared."

Bulma nodded. "It's all very curious," she muttered. "I can say one thing," she added, looking up and frowning. "I would like to take a look at that book. Maybe it'll offer us some clues."

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "I thought you might," she chuckled. "Here. This will help lend a little proof to my story. You'll believe me for sure when you take a look at this thing!" She lifted the lid from the box on her lap and pulled a large, brown book out of it.

"Here it is," Mrs. Briefs said, setting the box aside and laying the book down on her lap. Bulma stared at it eagerly. It was a large, thick volume with yellowed pages and a dark brown cover. It looked a bit weathered, and it had no unusual markings on it. In fact, it didn't have any markings on it at all.

"Where's the title?" Bulma asked, bending over slightly and turning her head nearly upside down as she strained to get a look at the spine and discern any kind of writing. "I can't find it on there."

"It doesn't have one," Mrs. Briefs replied. "There's nothing on it at all. We don't even know what's written inside, if anything."

"Well, why not?" Bulma asked her with a bewildered look. "Why don't you just open it and find out?"

"Because I can't open it," her mother replied with a grin. "No one can. At least no one who's tried could. All of us down the years have tried, and so have other members of our families. Your father tried too," she said with a giggle. "He couldn't open it any more than I could, even with all those gadgets of his."

"Did you try cutting it open?" Bulma asked, eying it curiously.

"Everything has been tried to open this thing," Mrs. Briefs replied emphatically. "It's been burned, soaked, pounded, frozen, sawn, chopped, pulled, pried, poked and prodded. You name it, it's been done, and every time the darn thing comes out of it without so much as a scratch. It's as if it's protected by some kind of magic."

"Let me see it," Bulma asked, holding out her hands.

"Sure," Mrs. Briefs replied, handing it to her, "but I'm telling you it won't do any good."

As soon as it touched her fingers, Bulma immediately became aware of an eerily familiar, powerful energy that radiated out from the book. She could actually feel it flowing from the book into her fingers, and from there the warming, buzzing glow continued on into the rest of her body. It was very peculiar, and admittedly somewhat alarming. She was about to ask her mom if this was normal, but she never got the chance.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried. "You… the book… Bulma, you're glowing!"

"Huh?" Bulma said. She dropped the book onto her lap and looked at her hands. "You're right!" she exclaimed, looking at her glowing hands in wonder. "Wow! What a queer feeling! What on Earth is going on?"

"The book!" her mother gasped. "Bulma, look at it!"

Bulma did as she said, and she gave a little gasp of her own. There on the front cover of the book, writing was appearing - it looked as though an invisible hand was somehow writing fiery gold letters there. After about two minutes, the invisible hand had finally finished, and Bulma and her mother stared in awe at the neat, handwritten words of gold that were now emblazoned in the center of the front cover. Bulma began to read them aloud in a clear, carefully steady voice. These are the words she read:

_O thou who holds this, a portal to Time,_

_Heed well the message penned here._

_For if thy intent be for less than sublime,_

_Thy ambitions shall cost thee most dear._

_This book leads to gifts of strength, wisdom, and power,_

_To those with the blood of His kin._

_But be warned; If thou bearest a heart that beats sour,_

_Woe is thine if thou venturest in!_

_To open this book is to open thy soul,_

_And submit it to Him who sees all._

_He is the Judge, and he is the goal,_

_And all who oppose him doth fall._

_For he is the seer; the mighty; the just;_

_He is Chronos, the great god of Time._

_And all who were, are, and shall be in him trust,_

_Be they mortal, or be they divine._

_This book is the door to all Time that has gone,_

_And to all Time that has yet to be._

_If thou wishest still to attempt to press on,_

_In thy blood is this door's needed key._

"My goodness," Mrs. Briefs breathed in awe. "I've never heard of the book doing this before. What could it mean?"

"I think it's a kind of riddle," Bulma muttered, turning the book over and checking to make sure there was nothing written on the other side. "It's telling us what we need to do to meet this Chronos, whoever he is. I can't say that I've heard of him, though."

"Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said quietly. "I think we should put this book away right now. I've got a really bad feeling about this."

Bulma frowned. "I can't help wondering about these gifts that it's talking about," she muttered. "It's saying something about power and strength. We could certainly do with some more of that around here."

"I never would have figured you for the power-hungry sort, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs snapped, her voice strangely waspish and angry.

Bulma rarely saw her mother this agitated, and she knew that it was her fear that was making her behave in this way. She shook her head at her and smiled. "I wasn't really talking about me," she chuckled. "I was thinking more along the lines of Vegita or Goku. A bit of extra strength would be wasted on someone like me, since I'm not even close to where those two are yet. That wasn't my point anyway," she said, looking down at the book and frowning again. "I'm really worried about what's to come, Mom. How can we know for sure that all our training will be enough to hold them off? It's not just our lives at stake, either. If we've underestimated the strength of the Jinzouningen, then all the people on this planet will be in danger. They're the ones I'm thinking about. I don't want others to suffer for my mistakes. If I have a chance at safeguarding our victory, I _have_ to take it."

"But you could disappear forever!" Mrs. Briefs cried frantically. "Wouldn't that be even worse? Besides, what about Vegita? What do you suppose _he_ would say about all this?"

"I know exactly what he'd say," Bulma replied with a grim scowl. "He'd say, 'don't be a cowardly fool!' He hates my teleport technique as it is, and somehow I don't think he'd exactly be thrilled that I'm considering something so risky, either. That's why he's not going to know anything about this until it's over."

Mrs. Briefs clutched at Bulma's arm with a desperate tenacity. "Please Bulma," she begged. "Please just put the book away!"

Bulma smiled kindly at her, but she shook her head firmly. "I have to figure this out, Mom," she replied, frowning resolutely down at the book. "Somehow, I'm certain that I have to, and for some reason, it feels like I was meant to." She tried to lift open the front cover of the book, but it didn't open. Frowning, she pulled harder, but to no avail. The book just wouldn't open.

Mrs. Briefs hung her head dolefully. What had she done? She should never have shown Bulma the book!

"I guess the key to opening this thing is in the riddle," Bulma muttered, turning it over and rereading the poem. "'In thy blood is this door's needed key,'" she repeated. "In my blood? Does it actually mean my physical blood, or is it referring to something more symbolic?" She thought for a moment and stared at the gold letters for a little longer. "It mentions blood up here too," she said, pointing to the second line. "It says, 'the blood of His kin.' I think they're referring to Chronos again here. Are they saying I'm in some way related to him? If he's really a god, then how can I be his kin?"

"It might explain your ability to stop time," Mrs. Briefs sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable. "Maybe that's got something to do with it." Her daughter was as bullheaded about solving puzzles as her father, and once she'd stumbled onto one, there was usually no tearing her away from it until she had it solved. She might as well help her solve this one and be done with it.

"Of course!" Bulma cried. "That's it! I'm a direct descendant of that man you told me about! Time manipulation! It's in my blood!" She grinned the way she always did when she figured out the answer to a problem. "I know what to do," she said, standing up and carefully setting the book down on the bed.

"Bulma?" Mrs. Briefs said anxiously, rising to her feet too. "Bulma, what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to stop time," she replied, grinning triumphantly at her mother. "That's the way to get it open. I'm almost sure of it!"

Mrs. Briefs was beyond the point of looking panic-stricken by now. "Don't worry, Mom," Bulma reassured her, giving her a warm hug before stepping back away again and focusing her senses. "I won't do anything stupid. Wish me luck!" She shot her mother a hasty thumbs-up, and then she stopped the flow of time.

Now immersed in the blue, still environment of stopped time, Bulma could better see what her mother had seen. She and the book were both glowing brightly, but now, there was one major difference - the gold letters had disappeared completely from the cover of the book. What was even more surprising was that now, standing on the bed next to the book, was a man whom Bulma had never seen before.

"Gyah!" Bulma shrieked, jumping backward, knocking herself into her mother's dresser and nearly losing her concentration. "What the heck?! Where did you come from?!"

He was a youngish, ginger-headed man of around the same height as Bulma, dressed in a simple, light blue robe. He gave a merry laugh at Bulma's startled reaction to him, and in that brief moment of mirth, Bulma could have sworn that his face reminded her of her mother's. She just gaped at him in amazement as he hopped lightly down off the bed and offered her a friendly bow.

"I've waited quite a long time to meet you face to face, Bulma," he said eagerly. "I must say, you're every bit as lovely as I'd expected!"

Bulma couldn't say anything in reply, at least at first. This entire situation was becoming more and more bizarre!


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60: Awakening of a Toki-jin**

Bulma gaped at the stranger with no small degree of surprise and alarm. Where had he come from? She had noted a distinct accent to his voice when he'd spoken to her, but she couldn't place it with any languages she'd heard before. It was strange, but not entirely unpleasant. Still, his sudden appearance prevented her from lowering her guard even one bit around him. Anyone who could sneak into the compound without her knowledge was worth watching, and anyone who could move around in halted time was definitely worth worrying about.

"What's going on here?" she demanded, taking a menacing step forward when she realized how close he was to her mother. "Who are you, and why are you in my parents' bedroom? I didn't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen right away; I thought I'd have to open the book for that."

The mysterious man chuckled good-naturedly at her and nodded. "There are a great many more surprises in store for you, Bulma my dear," he said with a knowing wink. "Although I agree with you; I've been called a lot of things in my time, but certainly never ordinary!"

He smiled at her and began to glance about the room eagerly, as though he was simply ecstatic to be there. "Forgive me if I sound rude," she snapped, striking a defensive stance and watching his every move like a hawk, "but I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you don't start explaining yourself, and I mean right now! And while you're at it, get away from my mother," she demanded. She darted in beside him and gave him a light push, putting herself between him and Mrs. Briefs. The man stumbled a bit, but he laughed heartily at her.

"Ah yes, I'd completely forgotten to introduce myself!" he chuckled, smacking himself in the forehead and shaking his head. "Forgive me my dear, but three hundred years in a book tends to make one forget his manners. I am Victor Pello, at your service!" He bowed again and beamed jovially at her. "I must confess," he said, straightening up and grinning at her sheepishly, "I know who you are, so I quite forgot that you wouldn't know who I am."

Bulma eyed him warily as she wore her confusion starkly on her face. Knowing his name didn't really do her all that much good. She still didn't know who he was. "How do you know me?" she asked him, still keeping every muscle on edge in case he suddenly did something threatening.

Victor turned his nose up indignantly. "Well, I should think I ought to be able to recognize my own descendant," he exclaimed. "After all, I haven't resided in that book with a deaf ear. I hear everything that's within earshot, you know."

"Descendant?!" Bulma cried incredulously, forgetting to be wary in her astonishment. "You mean you're the man my mom told me about? The one who disappeared?"

"The very same," he replied with a vigorous nod. "Although, just for the record, I didn't disappear. I was there in that book the whole time."

Bulma understood now why his laughing face had reminded her so much of her mother. "You've been in that book all along?" she gasped. "That's crazy! How did you get in there?"

"Chronos sealed me in there," he replied with a grin. "I've been with my descendants ever since, and let me tell you, you folks have certainly come a long way since my time. What feats you've accomplished!" He glanced around the room again and whistled impressively. His eyes fell on Mrs. Briefs, and he smiled. "She's your mother, isn't she?" he asked, leaning over so that he could point to the woman Bulma was shielding from him. Bulma cut her eyes to the side before fixing them on him again and nodding slowly. "I can see where you get your fine appearance," he remarked, rubbing his chin and smiling approvingly at Bulma's mother. "It does run in the family, after all."

Bulma swallowed anxiously as Victor began to walk about the room and look at things. "This Chronos," she said, glancing up at him and watching his facial expression for any signs of falsehood, "he really exists?"

"Oh yes," Victor replied, turning around to grin at her. "He does indeed, and you've the rare opportunity to meet Him!"

Bulma's face paled a little. "The god of time," she breathed. "I wasn't really sure whether to believe it or not, but I can't explain _you_ away with logic, now can I? This is unbelievable!"

"I agree completely," Victor laughed gaily, "but try not to feel too overwhelmed. It should all make more sense before long."

Bulma glanced down at the book. "Then that would mean he really does have the power to grant me a request of some sort, but first he'll judge whether or not I'm worthy," she muttered as lines of worry appeared on her forehead. "That's what the poem said, at least."

"Indeed it would," Victor replied, tilting his head to one side as he watched her pensive expression become more and more anxious. "He does not grant wishes in the same fashion as a Namek dragon. Your worthiness will be determined by Him when you make your request. I'd been granted the ability to speak with Him at my leisure while I was in the book, and although I can assure you that He is a most kind deity, He is unwavering when it comes to the difference between good and evil. However," he said, his face brightening, "I know more about you than you may think, and I have a feeling that you won't have much to worry about."

Bulma smiled slightly. "I'm glad you think so," she said, relaxing her muscles just a little. "I wouldn't have tried to open the book if I hadn't had good reason. I only hope it'll turn out to be good enough for Him too."

Victor nodded. "You know, you remind me so much of myself when I was your age," he said fondly. "I really am quite pleased I've been granted the privilege to meet you."

Bulma smiled and offered him an appreciative nod. "I'm glad you weren't lost after all," she said. "My mother was dead set against my doing this, because she thought I'd disappear like you. I just had to do it, though; I had to do whatever I could if it could gain us an edge. At least now I know there's more to this than just some nebulous doom ready to swallow me up. I'm more in control of my destiny than that, and it's slightly more comforting, but not altogether."

Victor smiled and nodded in return. "I'm glad you chose as you have. Even if others advise against it, sometimes you just have to do what your heart tells you to do. It isn't wise to always ignore the good advice of others, but sometimes we have no choice, have we? Now then, I have a little advice for you," he said with a friendly wink. "It isn't too late to change your mind about all of this. You've only just turned the key, but you haven't taken the critical step of opening the door just yet. Now that your doubts about Chronos' existence have been cleared away, are you still absolutely certain that you want to continue? I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm not here simply to meet you; I'm also here to teach you, and I was given special permission to do just that. I wanted to be sure that my descendant didn't choose to throw her life away needlessly."

"Throw my life away?" Bulma gasped, jerking her head up. "What do you mean?"

Victor shot her an apologetic smile. "Really, my riddle wasn't too clear on the consequences of all of this," he admitted. "I did that intentionally so that I could meet you even if you weren't sure you were worthy of Chronos' gifts. There are indeed grave consequences in store for you if you aren't," he said, frowning a little. "For those who go to Him with great evil in their hearts, or whose wishes are for things that are themselves evil, or even just purely selfish, only great pain and suffering await them. Many don't get the luxury of forewarning that you're getting," he said grimly. "People from all over this universe have succeeded in reaching Chronos directly, and quite a number of them have met their ends. You see, certain groups of people already know some of the secrets of Time, and a select few are advanced enough to trace them to their Source.

"I stumbled upon Chronos quite by accident, you know," he continued matter-of-factly. "It was in my days as a normal man here on Earth, and when I found myself in His presence, you can imagine how terrified I was. I was like you, in that I hadn't even known He existed! When He asked me what request I had of Him, I was so surprised that I couldn't think clearly. I explained to Him that I was merely an accidental visitor, and that I had no request to make. He told me to think very carefully, because He had the power to give me virtually anything I desired. I did think about it after that, but finally I told him that I was already a very happy man, and there wasn't much anyone could give me to make me happier. I told Him that I had a wife and child whom I loved more than anything, and who loved me just as much. I said that really the only thing I could possibly think of that I wanted was His word that they would live long, happy lives.

"Chronos considered this for a few moments, and then He told me that there was only one way for Him to be able to grant that request. I had to agree to leave them and my own mortal life on Earth and serve Him. As you can imagine, I thought this was most unfair and indeed most distressing. I begged Him to reconsider; I thought He was bargaining with me, and I did not see it as a fair deal at all. It was no use, though. He told me that He had only the deepest sympathy for me, but that it could not happen in any other way. He said that if I did indeed return to my family, there would have been no way for them to live happy lives, even if they did turn out to be long ones. You see, I had been very foolish. I had told a great number of people about my research - an act which, unbeknownst to me, had been a terrible mistake. Chronos said that if I returned to my life on Earth, I would soon be sought after by evil, ambitious people who would try to pressure me into using my power for their own gain. He said that my family and I would have to go into hiding to remain unharmed, and that we would spend the rest of our days away from others, alone and friendless, and that we would be most unhappy."

Victor sighed and shook his head sadly, smiling a little as he stared down at the floor and folded his hands behind his back. "I didn't want to force my loved ones to live such a life; nor did I want to place them in danger. I understood at last why Chronos had asked something so unpleasant of me. So, with His consent, I returned to my home for a final visit. I put all my affairs in order, said a final goodbye to my family, and took my leave of them. It was the most terrible decision I've ever had to make. There hasn't been a day yet when I don't think of them and miss them, but it worked out in the end, I suppose. They did live long, happy lives, although they missed me a good deal."

"I can understand why," Bulma said with an understanding nod. "You had to leave them without giving any explanations, or any information that might have put them in danger. That must have been heartwrenching."

Victor smiled sadly at Bulma. "It was," he said, "but you know, my wife never once doubted my love for her and my son. She never allowed anyone to believe that I had left her without having a grave reason, and although there were times when I think it would have been better for her if she'd remarried, she never did. I suppose she held onto that hope that I would return until the very end. I'll never be able to forgive myself for that. In the end, that was one happiness I had denied her right up to her death."

"So that's why you disappeared," Bulma sighed, crossing her arms and shaking her head sadly. "How terrible! Hey... wait a minute!" she said, looking up at him as she remembered something that didn't make sense. "What about the book? The legend says that it appeared in place of you. Why did it appear so suddenly, and why were you imprisoned in it?"

"Oh, I wasn't imprisoned," he said with a grin. "I volunteered. When I left my family, I was dreadfully heartbroken. I was more than willing to serve Chronos as His servant, as I believed Him when He'd said my sacrifice would ensure the safety and happiness of my family, but my sorrow at never being able to see them again was still first and foremost in my mind. Chronos is a kind and sympathetic god, though. He told me that He was very impressed by my selflessness, and that He felt a deep sympathy for me and my plight. He told me that there was a way for me to remain in the company of my family for the rest of their lives, without their or anyone else's knowledge, and that if I was willing, He could bring it about. I eagerly asked Him how that could be, and He told me that He could seal me within a sacred relic that He could guarantee would be with my family for as long as they lived. I didn't see how His doing something so generous for me would benefit Him at all, and I told Him so. He smiled and said that if I so chose, after my wife and son had finally passed away, I could remain in the relic and be passed on for more generations down my line.

"I was a bit puzzled by this odd offer; I still failed to see how this would serve His purposes. Then He told me about you, and that you would come to meet Him someday, just like I had. He said that if I so chose, I could be there to guide you when you discovered your heritage, and to give you an idea of what you could expect. I could warn you of the dire risk you would be taking. You see, Bulma," he said, his expression hardening a little. "The gift you possess is indeed a rare one, but not so rare that you are the only one who possesses it. There are actually many others all across this universe with abilities like yours, and Chronos has told me that you have even met others like yourself already."

"I have?" Bulma asked. Victor nodded. She paused for a moment to consider his words, and all at once she realized that she did remember someone else who had been able to do what she could do. "Gurudo!" she gasped. "He could stop time too! But... but he was nothing like me!" she cried indignantly. "I don't wanna be lumped into the same group as him! He was a weak, cowardly, evil little troll! He would have killed me, my friends, and many others if Vegita hadn't killed him first! Chronos couldn't possibly think I'm as evil as he was!"

Victor smiled a sly smile. "Indeed," he said quietly. "That is precisely my point. Not everyone who possesses your gift has a pure heart, my dear. In fact, a great many of them are not very nice at all. It is said that power breeds corruption, and I'm afraid that this holds true our universe over. You and your friends are part of the minority. It just so happens that most people who can do what you can do choose not to use their abilities as you do. They instead choose to use them for their own gain, usually at the expense and suffering of others. As I have said before, Chronos has a very distinct idea of the difference between good and evil, and to those who come to Him with evil in their hearts, He is a deadly sight to behold. All Toki-jin who come before Him must be judged worthy before they are allowed to leave His presence alive, much less have requests granted."

"Toki-jin?" Bulma asked. "Time people? Is that what I am?"

"Yes," Victor said with a smile. "The very fact that you know what that name means is proof that you are one of us. It's a name in the language of Time given to those of us who have abilities relating to time manipulation. Toki-jin have emerged in nearly every intelligent race in this universe. You and I are not the only ones from this planet; nor will we be the last, I'd wager."

"Does my being a… Toki-jin… Does that mean I'm not human?" Bulma asked, her face paling a little.

Victor smiled. "Not at all," he said with an emphatic shake of his head. "You're just as human as your mother, father, or any other human on this planet. It's important for you to know that you only have the name of Toki-jin because of your remarkable abilities. You don't have your abilities because of the name. I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that at least your abilities as a Toki-jin are in greater part attributed to your being my descendant. Chronos mentioned to me in one of my talks with Him that such skills are wont to show themselves in future generations of existing Toki-jin. One of your own descendants may even become one someday. Who knows?

"Still," he added, "Don't let that detract from its value though, Bulma. Your powers are your own, regardless of how they came about. Aside from that, I know for a fact that you are in an uncountable number of ways more remarkable than I was, and not just in your time abilities, either. No one in my time could fly, and I'm certain that no one could fight as well as you can. It's even been suggested to me that you're more intelligent than I am," he said with a somewhat resentful cough. "I suppose that might be possible. As for the flying, though," he said with a mischievous grin. "It wasn't all that necessary three hundred years ago. The world saw many more Kinto'un then than it does now."

Bulma laughed. "I would have loved to have seen that," she said with a grin of her own, "even though I still would have been stuck flying on my own two feet. As I recall, Goku's Kinto'un didn't like me too much. Now granted, my head does (and did) have some fairly impure thoughts in it, but in all fairness, I still don't think that Goku's were all that pure. I prefer to think it was more correct to say that there weren't as many in that guy's head in the first place."

She and Victor laughed at that. "Well, at any rate," he chuckled, trying to assume a more serious expression. "As gifted as you are, my dear, you would never be able to defend yourself from the consequences of your actions if you're doing this for the wrong reasons. I won't lie to you, Bulma. Many basically decent people have come to Chronos with less than pure intentions in mind, and they have all paid the ultimate price for it. I'm not allowed to give you specific details or names, but I can tell you this much: none of them ever made it back home alive. To lay eyes on the great Chronos without the purity of a wholly deserving heart is a taboo that is forbidden without exception. Nothing can spare a person who commits such a crime."

Bulma gulped and looked down with a grim frown at the book resting on her mother's bed. "Your poem alluded to grave consequences for those people," she said quietly, "and I'm not really all that certain that my heart is pure enough to fit the bill, especially given the way Kinto'un never let me ride it. I... I have to see Him, though," she said earnestly, looking up at Victor and frowning resolutely at him. "I need His help, if I can get it. If it was just my own skin on the line here, I wouldn't even be considering it, but this isn't something I need to do purely for me. I have to do this for the sakes of my friends and the other people of this planet, too."

Victor smiled. "I know," he said, nodding in understanding. "I heard you explain that to your mother, but tell me this," he added with a very serious look. "You do understand that once you go to Him, there can be no turning back, do you not? You must understand that you'll literally be risking your life for this cause."

Bulma hesitated for a moment and shot him a nervous frown. She thought about how she had just discovered her love for Vegita, and how terrible it would be for her to lose him – probably even more terrible than it would be for him to lose her. Was she willing to risk all that on a chance for which she didn't even know the odds of success?

Then she thought about it from another angle. What if he wasn't going to be strong enough, even if he did become a super saiyan? If somehow she could get Chronos to give him a boost or something, maybe it would be worth the risk. She set her jaw and looked resolutely back up at Victor. "I understand," she said gravely. "This is something I have to do. There are people who may not appreciate this, or me for doing it, but I just have to try. I can't help shaking the fear that all our efforts are going to be in vain, and something tells me that this is a chance I can't afford to miss."

Victor nodded respectfully at her and smiled. "In that case," he said, walking over to the book and picking it up, "I'll tell you how to reach the god of time. Are you ready to discover your fate?" he asked, holding the book out to her and smiling.

Bulma smiled back and bravely took the book from him. She nodded firmly in reply. "I'm ready," she said. "What do I have to do?"

"Simply open the book," he replied, walking around beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's enchanted to take us right to Him."

Bulma nodded again, and after taking a deep breath and trying to steady her trembling hands, she carefully parted the pages in the center of the book and opened it. There was a blinding white flash all around them, and Bulma suddenly felt as if she was falling. She wanted to cry out, but her environment had instantly become devoid of all sight and sound, to the point where she could no longer even see or hear herself. It was petrifying and numbing to hear, feel, and see such white nothingness. It gave her the eerie feeling that she didn't even exist anymore.

Her senses weren't the only thing that seemed to have become warped, either. Her sense of time no longer seemed to function correctly. It may very well have been an instantaneous journey, but the same likelihood existed for its being an exhaustingly long one. It was as if time had both no meaning, and all meaning here. It was the most indescribable event that Bulma had ever experienced. However long or far the journey progressed, it did finally end, and Bulma eventually found herself standing on her own two feet once again. At first, though, only her sense of balance told her that she had arrived somewhere. The place - if it could have been called a place - where she had arrived was no less blindingly white as her trip here had been. There were marked differences, however. She could feel and hear her heart beating and her breath coming to her here, and there was definitely a sense of gravity. Wherever she was, she had undoubtedly arrived _somewhere_.

She turned around rather awkwardly (it was hard for her to retain balance since she cast no shadow and the floor looked the same as everything else) and saw that Victor was behind her, kneeling on one knee, with his head bowed low. Bulma felt the urge to ask him why he was doing this, but something told her to turn around again, so she did that instead. She gasped and gave a startled jump at what she saw.

Standing no less than three feet in front of her, where there had before been no more than white emptiness, was a young boy in a long, simple white robe. He was slightly shorter than Bulma was, and he didn't look a day over sixteen. Regardless, he appeared in Bulma's eyes to be nothing less than the most beautiful being she had ever laid eyes on. His slight frame and soft, pale white skin gave him the appearance of a marble statue, and the perfection of his features only added to the effect. His hair was a light blond, and it fell in long, delicate strands nearly down to his waist. His ears had a slight point to them, and his cheeks bore only the barest trace of pink. Every part of him looked young, soft, and delicate – every part, that is, except for his eyes. They were a dark blue-green, and they held an awe-inspiring presence of power and knowledge within them. He was, all in all, the most amazing person Bulma had ever encountered, and ever _would_ encounter, she couldn't help thinking to herself. She could do no more than stare in awe at him, unable to speak and unable to act. Fortunately for her, he did not mind speaking first instead.

"Greetings, Bulma Briefs!" he said in a strangely thunderous yet calm, subtle voice. "I have fondly awaited your arrival. You are a most welcome visitor to my sanctum."

Bulma was unaware of it, but Victor was secretly beaming behind her. He had known all along that this would be the case.

Bulma stared in awe at this beautiful young boy, whom she had now surmised to be the Chronos about whom she had heard so much. He was smiling at her, and all at once she knew that she didn't feel the slightest ounce of malice in him. Did that mean she had passed the test? She hoped so. She somehow willed her mobility to return to her, and she jerkily knelt down on one knee.

"I beg your forgiveness," she said, her voice a fair bit squeakier than usual. "I… I didn't realize at first that you were… Him." She quickly bowed her head as Victor had done. She didn't know why exactly, but something about this boy was so frighteningly intimidating that she simply didn't know how she was supposed to act. As she knelt and trembled in front of Him, she came to the bizarre conclusion that she could not directly sense His power. She could feel something else, though - a dull ache of something indescribably potent and unearthly; it was an essence that was hitting her from all directions at once, but could unmistakably be traced to Him. Is this what it felt like to be in the presence of a god?

He smiled at her. "My form confuses many," He said with an understanding nod. "Please rise and look upon me with ease. You are in no danger in my presence."

Bulma did as He asked, and she took a few deep, calming breaths. So far so good, she thought to herself. She was still alive, at least. She would take that was a good sign.

"You undoubtedly know that you are allowed to make a request of me," He said solemnly. "If it be permissible, I will grant it. I know you have a request in mind. You may give it whenever you are ready."

Bulma nodded and, after taking another long, steadying breath, she began to speak again - this time with a much steadier voice. "I'm pretty sure you already know about the threat my friends and I are training ourselves for," she began. "I am terribly worried that our training may not be enough to assure victory. I was hoping that you might be able to make one of the others stronger than the Jinzouningen will be. Any one of them will do," she said hurriedly. "Goku, Vegita… even Yajirobe! Just as long as I can be sure we'll be able to win, it would be the most wonderful thing I could ever ask of you."

Chronos nodded and smiled. "A truly bold and selfless thing to request," He thundered softly, "and yet I sense that you fear it is not noble enough for me to grant it."

Bulma's face reddened and she shuffled nervously. "I really didn't know for sure," she admitted, "but I didn't know whether I would be pure enough of heart, either. The truth is, when I look at it subjectively, I'm almost asking you to give me peace of mind as much as I'm asking you to ensure the safety of my friends and the people of my planet. I knew it was selfish of me, but I just felt that I _had_ to try. Every time I think about what's to come, I get so incredibly worried. What if no matter what we do, it just isn't enough? There are no guarantees, even if we _did_ gain the advantage of forewarning. Even if it turns out that something happens to me the same way it did to Victor... I couldn't help but think that it was better than fighting against the unknown for the next two years. Perhaps I chose wrongly, but I still think the risk was worth the possibility."

"Your willingness to risk everything on that chance is the very selflessness and bravery I referred to just now," Chronos replied with a smile. "You chose to gamble your own life for the sake of your friends and the people of your planet, even if only to give yourself the peace of mind that they would be safe. Fear not, young Bulma; there are few things more worthy of my aid." Bulma's raised her head, and her face was alight with an unparalleled gaze of joy. "However," Chronos continued, his smile fading a little, "I cannot grant your request."

"What?" Bulma gasped, her mouth falling open in disbelief as her expression fell dramatically. "Why not?"

"It is never wise for me to interfere in the affairs of mortals' lives," He explained. "I cannot alter the strength of your companions, nor can I assure you of a victory. You were not meant to know your future. No mortal who is born without the Sight is permitted such wisdom."

Bulma couldn't believe she was hearing this. "But what about him?" she asked, pointing frantically at Victor, who was now looking up at them. "You were able to assure him that his wife and son would be safe!"

Chronos nodded. "I did," He agreed, "but he had agreed to leave his life as a mortal. It was different in his case."

Bulma sighed. "I see," she said dejectedly. She looked sadly back up at Chronos. "Isn't there anything you can do to help us?"

He closed his eyes and gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Yes," He said at last. "There is. I can enhance your power over the flow of time. There is a great deal more that you could know." He opened his eyes and looked thoughtfully at her. "Unlike Victor here, you have a remarkable level of control over your own life energy. I think the boost would be most beneficial. I could grant you knowledge that would allow you to mold the flow of time in any way you chose. With such knowledge at your disposal, you would be a far more formidable foe to your enemies."

Bulma looked down a little, her brow furrowing slightly as she considered what he had proposed. "Are there any disadvantages I ought to know about?" she asked quietly.

"Much like your existing abilities," He replied, "the new ones would drain your strength just as rapidly. Given how frequently you use your current technique, however, it won't be much of a disadvantage to you. Even so," He added with a sober look, "your new powers would come with a restriction. You will have the ability to transform the flow of time into any form, speed, or direction you choose. I must warn you though that one of these abilities will have dire consequences. By receiving this wisdom, you will invariably come to know how to reverse the flow of time. This you must not do. No mortal is _ever_ allowed to reverse the flow of time, as it is terrifically perilous for the universe in which it occurs. If you ever break this taboo, I will be forced to permanently remove your power over time. Do you understand this?"

After considering it for a few more moments, Bulma nodded and looked gravely up at Him. "Yes," she said firmly. "I understand, and I agree to the law. I will accept your offer. I only hope that I'll be able to do some good with it."

Chronos nodded, and He extended a smooth, white hand toward her. "I bequeath to you a portion of my wisdom, and the secrets of the workings of Time," He said, His solemn, quiet voice pounding inside her ears. He touched her forehead with His index finger, and instantly she felt a veritable deluge of information flowing into her brain. Her eyes opened wide, and her breath stuck in her throat as it all quickly took shape and came together in her mind. She knew it all - everything she had expected, and so much more. It was so complete that she was already coming up with her own ideas for new attacks, just as He withdrew His arm. Her brain was buzzing with activity, and it felt that every synapse and cell was ablaze with new knowledge and power. She felt as though her very head might burst from the sudden surge of information.

"Ah!" she cried in a breathless, anxious voice, sinking weakly to her hands and knees and breathing heavily. "T-too much!"

"Bulma!" Victor exclaimed, springing to his feet and rushing to her side. "My Lord, is she all right?"

Chronos smiled. "She is quite unharmed, Victor," He assured him. "She may feel rather overwhelmed at the moment, but rest assured that she will recover momentarily."

Victor realized that he had forgotten himself, and he quickly bowed his head in embarrassment. "I, er... I apologize, my Lord," he said with a sheepish laugh. "I should not have questioned you."

"It is no matter," Chronos replied with an understanding smile. "Your concern for her well-being needs no apology." He looked down at Bulma and smiled at her. "How do you feel now?" He asked her.

Bulma glanced up at Him rather dizzily, but she was grinning from ear to ear. "Incredible," she replied with a laugh. "I feel as though I could even take on Freeza if he were here now!" She looked up and grinned at Victor. "Did he do this to you too?" she asked him.

"No," Chronos replied for him. "You are the only one to whom I have ever given such expansive knowledge. I do not readily share the secrets of Time with mortals; they can be extremely dangerous."

"The secrets, or the mortals?" Bulma asked, arching an eyebrow as she pushed herself upright and accepted a steady arm from Victor to help her retain her balance.

Chronos smiled. "I'll leave you to decide," He said with a simple nod.

Bulma grinned. "Thank you so much for all that you've given me," she said gratefully. "I don't know if it will give us enough of an edge to assure victory, but obviously, that's as it should be, isn't it? I'll try my best, and I promise not to use these gifts for anything but the good of my people and my friends. I hope I can see you again someday."

"You can," Chronos said with a smile, "and you will. Don't forget that with your new knowledge and powers you now know how to find me, even without the book. Speaking of which," he added, pointing to where it lay behind them on the white, shadowless ground beneath their feet, "it is no longer of use to anyone, so away it goes." He waved his hand and it disappeared entirely.

Bulma looked at Victor and grinned. "No more days spent sealed up in a book," she said with a laugh. "So what are you going to do now, my exponentially great grandfather?"

Victor was so perplexed by this question that he missed her joke and didn't laugh at it. "I… I don't know," he responded uneasily. "My Lord?" he asked, looking to Chronos for his answer.

Chronos smiled, and Bulma could have sworn she'd seen a twinkle of mirth in His eye. "I have one last task for you, Victor Pello," He said in a firm, businesslike tone.

"Yes, my Lord," Victor replied obediently.

"You are to take a permanent vacation from my service," Chronos ordered, the barest trace of a smile tugging at his lips.

Victor visibly paled. "B-but Lord Chronos!" he exclaimed. "Where will I go? What will I do?"

Chronos immediately raised a hand for silence. "You will spend your vacation," He said, smiling broadly, "residing in Heaven with your wife and son."

Victor's eyes widened, and his mouth fell agape in astonishment. Suddenly, tears began to form in his eyes. "M-my Lord!" he said shakily, his lips trembling a little. "I... I can't tell you how much that will mean to me!"

"I believe you just did," Chronos replied, smiling kindly at him, "and you're very welcome. Now, I suggest you two say good-bye to one another. You're soon to part ways."

Victor and Bulma shook hands, but then all at once Victor seized her in his arms and hugged her fiercely, surprising her a great deal. "Look me up when you get to Heaven," he said excitedly. "I want you to meet my family!"

"I'd be delighted," Bulma laughed with a happy smile. "If I make it into Heaven, I'll definitely do just that."

"I'll see you in a while then," Victor replied with a grin. "It'll only be a matter of Time, after all." He looked up at his former master, and although he was smiling broadly, he still looked as if he was on the verge of tears. "I will miss you terribly, Chronos," he said with a fond smile, "but I am ready."

Chronos smiled back and nodded. "Farewell, Victor. I wish you all the happiness that I know you'll find. Take care." He waved His left hand, and Victor instantly disappeared, leaving Bulma and Chronos as the only two visible things in that entire white space.

"Now," He said, looking back at Bulma and smiling politely. "It is nearly time for you to return home. Have you any questions of me before you go?"

It was as if He had read Bulma's mind. "Yes, I do," she replied. "I was wondering; are there currently any other Toki-jin on Earth besides me? Victor told me that you had said I'd met others, but the only one I could think of was Gurudo. Who are the rest of them?"

Chronos smiled and nodded. "There have been several, but I can at least tell you about the ones who currently reside on your planet," He replied. "At this point in time, there are two of them. I suppose you'd like to know who they are."

"Very much," Bulma said, nodding vigorously. "Maybe I've met them!"

"Indeed you have," Chronos said with a smile. "The first is Kami, the guardian of the Earth. The second is Uranai Baba, the fortune-telling witch who is sister to Kame-sennin."

"Kami?" Bulma said, her eyes widening. "Baba too? I didn't know either one could stop time!"

"They cannot," Chronos corrected her. "You must understand, Bulma, that not all Toki-jin awaken with the same powers. Although they perceive it by different methods, their abilities are the same: they can both discern what will happen in the future. They have the Sight."

"Oh," Bulma said, nodding. "I see. Have they met you too?"

"Kami has," Chronos replied. "He presented himself to me shortly before he first became Earth's guardian. I will not tell you what his request was; nor will I tell you his gift. That is his alone. As for Baba, she knows of my existence, but she has chosen not to visit me. She has already foreseen what will happen if she does, and she does not like the result."

Bulma shook her head and marveled at it all. "I had no idea," she said. "There really are a lot of us Toki-jin out there, aren't there? If there are three of us on my planet now, there must be tons of them in the universe!"

"In this universe, there are indeed quite a large number," Chronos mused. "However, the other universes – especially the older ones – have a great many more. My universe is still young, like me. As it grows, more and more Toki-jin will awaken, and I shall be here to receive them, should they call upon me as you have."

"Wait a minute," Bulma cried. "Your universe? Other universes? Just how many universes are there?"

"The answer to that is beyond the realm of understanding of mortals," Chronos chuckled. "I can tell you that there are many universes, and with each one there exists a god of time, along with a goddess of space. My people and I govern all existence, and our numbers are so vast that there exists no corresponding numeral in any of the mortal languages to quantify them all. For the most part, these universes exist entirely independent of one another, but occasionally, a mortal manages to jump from one universe to another, and when that happens, it is an event that attracts the attention of multiple gods. I will not say much about the ramifications involved in these occurrences, but I will say that I and my neighbors had anticipated one such event, and that it would affect your planet. That is part of the reason why I had chosen to arrange for you to meet me in this way. As I have said, I do not like to meddle in the affairs of mortals, but there are some circumstances to which even I cannot turn a blind eye."

Bulma glanced down at her feet and furrowed her brow. She had no idea what event Chronos was referring to, but perhaps she would find out eventually. Obviously since his meeting her was related to it, _she_ was related to it somehow. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to get a direct answer from him on the matter, though.

Chronos smiled at her, as anyone would have been able to see the curiosity just bursting inside her. "Is there anything else you would like to know?" He asked her with a knowing nod.

Bulma thought for a moment, and suddenly, an odd idea occurred to her. Without knowing how it really related to what they were talking about, she immediately brought it up. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "That Super Saiyan from the future! It just occurred to me that he traveled back in time to warn us. How did he do that? I mean, does a time machine carry with it the same rules that my powers do? It reversed the flow of time, but it still worked when he left us."

Chronos smiled. "The woman who created that machine was told the same thing you were," He said quietly. "She knew that by building it she would forfeit her own abilities. Although the machine is not alive, and I am unable to remove the sciences that govern its function, the woman herself has indeed lost her inherent power over Time, just as you will if you do as she did. Keep that in mind, Bulma. It was her decision to make, and she decided that the sacrifice of her own abilities was very small when compared to the promise of a new future for you and your companions. Keep that in mind as well."

"I don't suppose you can tell me who she is?" Bulma asked hopefully, "or even who that young boy was?"

"I will not," He replied simply.

"Fair enough," Bulma sighed. "One more thing. There are several people at home who will need an explanation for all this. Am I allowed to tell anyone what happened here?"

"Yes," Chronos replied with a nod. "You may tell whomever you like. Unlike Victor, your telling others about your abilities will endanger no one. I would especially recommend that you tell your mother," He added with a knowing smile. "At the very least, she should know just what became of her ancestor."

"I will," Bulma replied, beaming at Him, "and I want to thank you for... well, for everything! I've never felt so confident in myself as I am now! I may just have a chance to survive in the fight to come!"

Chronos smiled and nodded. "Use my gifts wisely, mortal fledgling. I will send you back to your home now. Good luck and farewell!" He cried, waving His hand at her in the same way as He had done to Victor. In an instant, Bulma found herself back home, standing next to her mother in halted time. After shaking her head a bit at the wonder of all that had just happened to her, she sat down on the bed and let time flow again.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried in a panicky voice. "Bulma don't!" She gasped then, as she could no longer see her daughter standing where she had been when she had first stopped time.

"Over here, Mom," Bulma said, smiling and waving.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs gasped. "Thank God, you're still here!" She lunged at her daughter and grabbed onto her as if she didn't dare let her go. "You scared me half to death, you cruel thing!" she said shakily, beginning to shudder as she felt tears sting her eyes. "Please don't ever do that again! Promise me you won't open that book!"

Bulma gritted her teeth and shook her head in response to the guilt she felt for worrying her mother so. "I'm sorry, Mom," she said, hugging her and patting her back reassuringly. "I promise I won't do it again. Now why don't you sit down and try to relax a bit? Have I got a story for you!"


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61: A Speedy Upgrade**

Once she was through fuming and chastising, Mrs. Briefs spent the remainder of the morning listening in wonder to Bulma's account of all that had taken place since she'd stopped time. When her daughter had finally finished telling her everything, Mrs. Briefs clapped her hands and beamed at her with all her might.

"So that's what happened to him!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad he got to join his family in Heaven! It's like the end of a nice story!"

"Yep," Bulma said with a nod and a smile. "I agree. It's kind of strange how he ended up before then, though, huh? To be magically sealed in a book… That's even weirder than the magic that turtle pervert's sister can do. It's strange that she turned out to be a Toki-jin too," she added with a thoughtful glance at the ceiling. "Maybe I should try to find her someday and ask her when she found out about Chronos, and what she saw that made her not want to meet Him."

"You said that He just gave you knowledge," Mrs. Briefs asked curiously. "Do you think it'll help you with what you have ahead of you?"

"I don't know," Bulma said, furrowing her brow a little. "I'm sure going to try to make good use of it, but I think I'm going to need some help honing my new skills. I've got a world of possibilities to explore, and it's going to take me a lot of time and work to figure out how to use them effectively. I'm hoping Vegita will help me out in that area."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," her mother said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help you out. When are you going to tell him about all of this?"

Bulma looked at her watch. "It's just after 12:30 now," she commented with a frown. "He's in the middle of his daily routine right now… He'll be a real bear if I interrupt him, but I'm too excited to wait until he's finished for the day. I want to tell him now. I guess I'll see if he'll listen to me for a few minutes at least," she said, grinning at Mrs. Briefs. "He'll gripe at me for sure about all this, but when he hears about the possibilities it might offer us, he might not mind as much."

"Why don't you have lunch first?" Mrs. Briefs asked her with a smile. "It shouldn't make too much difference if you wait a little while, and I'll bet you're hungry!"

Bulma thought for a moment, and she realized that her mother was right. She was famished. Sighing impatiently, she gave a reluctant nod, and they went downstairs to eat.

After a hearty, yet unbearably long lunch, Bulma finally left the house for Vegita's gravity building. She couldn't wait to tell him all that had happened. Her thoughts were interrupted though, when she ran into Yamucha and Puar along the way. They all stopped, and Bulma and Yamucha stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Bulma noticed that Puar was carrying his capsule case.

"You're leaving?" she asked, looking down at the capsule case and then back up at him in surprise. "Why? Is it because of last night? I'm not angry, if that's what you think! You don't have to leave, Yamucha! You're always welcome here!"

Yamucha gave her a sad smile. "Puar," he said, nodding as he turned and smiled at the little blue cat, who appeared to be on the verge of tears, "why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up to you."

"O-okay. Goodbye, Bulma!" she said quickly, and then she took off at full speed, obviously trying to get out of sight before bursting into tears.

"Puar, wait!" Bulma cried, taking a step away from Yamucha. "Where are you going?!"

"The Kame House," Yamucha answered behind her. Bulma turned back around. "We're both going. I'm kind of glad we ran into you, though," he said with another sad smile. "I never would have gotten a chance to apologize for last night if we hadn't."

"Yamucha, no one's making you leave!" Bulma cried. "I don't blame you at all for being angry with me last night! Please don't go; I'm not upset with you!"

Yamucha frowned and shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "There was no excuse for the way I treated you last night. I was too wrapped up in myself to see that this was never about me; this is about you and what you want. After taking my anger out on you like I did, I don't deserve to be around you anymore. But," he said, looking back up and forcing himself to smile again. "That's not the main reason why I'm leaving."

"What is it, then?" Bulma asked him. "Did… did Vegita say something to you, Yamucha? Because if he did, I can talk to him, and…"

"No, that's not it," he interjected. "It wasn't Vegita. The truth is that I just can't make myself stay any longer. I can't make myself stay here and watch you and Vegita do… do whatever it is you're doing. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"So that's it then?" Bulma asked, beginning to sound a little angry and choked up all at once. "You're just going to leave?"

"Yes," Yamucha replied with a smile. "I asked Kuririn and the old master if I could crash with them, and they both said that I could. I'm going to train with Kuririn now." He cracked a grin. "He even said that he couldn't wait to have a real sparring partner at last. He said the old man hasn't been much help to him."

Bulma sighed and looked down at the ground. "You know I never meant to hurt you, right?" she asked, gritting her teeth as the tears forced their way to the surface.

Yamucha sighed and shook his head before tilting her chin up with one hand so that she could see his eyes. "Bulma, you've done nothing that could make me believe that you wanted to hurt me," he said soberly, letting go of her chin and rubbing an elbow uncomfortably. "I can't say that I'm very happy about the way things ended up, but I know for a fact that you haven't done any of this out of spite for me."

Bulma swallowed and nodded. "Are… are we still friends, Yamucha?" she asked, looking hopefully at him.

Yamucha winced. Then he sighed. "Bulma," he said with a pained expression, "until I've had some time to figure things out I won't know what we are. I want to stay close to you somehow, but right now, I can't even try without having my heart ripped to pieces. For now, the only thing I can do to keep from losing all my marbles is just to stay as far away from you as I can."

Yamucha could tell right away by the look on her face that his words had really hurt her, and he grimaced. "Just give me some time to get over it, all right? In the meantime," he added, folding his arms and frowning, "don't you dare let him hurt you. Do you understand? Don't put up with _any_ abuse from that man, Bulma."

Bulma looked up, and the expression on her face was a mixed one. "I won't," she said, shaking her head. "You do know you're always welcome if you want to come back, right?"

Yamucha gave a little nod and smiled. "Yeah," he replied. "I know. See you later, Bulma. You know where to find me if you need me. In case we don't see each other again until the day the Jinzouningen arrive, good luck with your training. I'll give Vegita this much; he's done more with you than I ever could myself. You're an incredible fighter, Bulma. Keep working hard."

"The same to you," she said with a smile. "I hope you know I'll clobber you if you show up all fat and lazy!"

Yamucha laughed and smiled at her one last time before waving and taking off after Puar for Muten Roshi's island. Bulma watched him go, her expression melancholy but accepting. Maybe this was for the best after all. Perhaps they both needed some time away from each other right now, and although she hated to say it, she did think that it would be easier to concentrate on both her training and her man while she knew that Yamucha wouldn't have to see them together. Whether it was reasonable of her or not, she knew that she would be unable to keep from feeling just a little bit guilty about enjoying her time with Vegita if Yamucha was around to watch.

Sighing, she turned and headed toward Vegita's gravity room again. Maybe telling him the exciting news about earlier this morning would take her mind off of Yamucha.

When she reached Vegita's gravity room, she first peered inside the little porthole-like window on his door to see what he was up to. "Ah," she thought as she saw him hopping about, dodging little energy balls as they whizzed about the room. "Energy training with the deflecto-bots. Vegita always employs such fun methods."

She allowed herself a few seconds to reflect on all the bruises and burns she'd sustained whenever he'd made her suffer through that beastly exercise, wincing slightly at the memory. The premise was surprisingly simple; moderately small balls of chi energy ricocheted off of the spinning, floating, spherical robots and zoomed all over the room in highly unpredictable paths. Usually, when Vegita made Bulma endure this "fun" exercise, he would only toss one chi ball into the mix, but if he was in a particularly hostile mood, there were always plenty more to go around, and whenever one hit her and sent her flying, he was always quick to replace it with the next. As if dodging Vegita in hand-to-hand wasn't bad enough! Not only was it harder to dodge the blasted things in such high gravity, but to make things worse, whenever one hit her - which was always a given - it would hit with considerably more force than it would have under normal gravitational circumstances. Bulma rolled her eyes as she concluded that she couldn't wait to resume training, knowing what she had in store for her when she returned.

She walked around to the side of the building where the control panel was, and she turned on the two-way camera. She grinned as a spark of mischievous brilliance suddenly flickered in her mind. An irresistible opportunity had just presented itself to her. She took in a deep breath. "Hey, Vegita!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Success! Vegita's concentration slipped for a split second, and one of the energy balls hit him squarely in the back of the head, causing him to lose his balance and fall to his hands and knees. Uttering a very filthy curse, he dropped to his stomach as another whizzed right above him, nearly grazing his back. Faster than Bulma could follow, he spun onto his back, and quick as a wink, he fired three quick bursts of energy into the air. His actions were immediately followed by three simultaneous explosions. He had destroyed the remaining balls of energy with his well-aimed chi bursts. Once he had returned to his feet, he looked up at the grinning face of Bulma on the screen, and he shot her a withering glare.

"Can't even dodge your own energy, eh Vegita?" she teased him shamelessly. She couldn't believe that she'd actually caught him off guard enough to slip him up, and she was not above celebrating her victory in front of him.

Vegita let out a vicious snarl and bared his teeth at her menacingly. Apparently he didn't appreciate the humor as much as she did. "Just wait until you skulk back in here in a few days," he growled crabbily at her. "We'll see how well you like it when you have to dodge two or three blasts _and_ my fists all at once."

Bulma laughed. "Oh, stop grumbling, Vegita," she chuckled. "I was only having a little fun. Besides, I don't often get a chance to catch you off guard. Naturally, I have to take such opportunities when I see them."

Vegita snorted derisively. "You'd better have a less suicidal reason for this, woman," he snapped, shooting her another menacing glare. "If you think I'm going to tolerate these kinds of irreverent interruptions, then you're going to find out the hard way just how wrong you are!"

Bulma smiled and shook her head. "Don't bust a vessel or anything," she said, holding up her hands as an expression of sincerity. "I actually have a good reason, believe it or not, and I have to talk to you about it. Could you turn off the gravity machine and come out here for a few minutes?"

Vegita grunted in disapproval. "We're talking now," he retorted, scowling mightily at her, "and we're wasting a good bit of time while we're at it. If you have something to say, then say it. I won't waste my time on frivolities when I could be spending it training instead."

Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Vegita!" she complained. "Do you have to be so difficult? This isn't talking! I want to speak to you face-to-face! Besides, what I have to say also involves showing you something, and I won't be able to do that with you in there!"

Vegita looked at her with a cool, deliberating expression. "And just why, pray tell, would _any_ distraction be worth my time?" he drawled at her.

Bulma frowned, but her expression immediately brightened as she thought of a new way to approach this. "All I wanted to do was try some new moves out on you," she said nonchalantly, waving her hand aside and shrugging. "I happened to discover something today that will make it all too easy to kick your ass, and I'm just dying to try it out. But hey, if you're intimidated by that, I'll understand, Vegita. I'll just leave you to your training, if accepting my challenge bothers you so much." She turned off the two-way camera and casually began walking away from the gravity room. Beginning at three, she began to count down to ego-blastoff. She didn't even make it to one.

The gravity room door swung open, and Vegita came sauntering out. Bulma stopped and turned to stare at him in feigned surprise. "Oh? Have you changed your mind, Vegita?" she asked politely. "Do you really think that's wise?"

"You're just aching to be put back into your place, aren't you?" he jeered at her. "Is vacation life not treating you well, weakling? Do you miss my training so much?"

Bulma laughed. "Actually, I'm really serious about this," she chuckled. "I have discovered some new abilities, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss getting the stuffing beaten out of me. What girl _wouldn't_ long for such a romantic activity every day? Anyway, thanks for letting me interrupt you, Vegita. I promise you won't be disappointed by what I have to show you."

"Your cocky attitude is going to make this all the sweeter when I show you what an idiot you're being," he chuckled sinisterly. "But go right ahead, my little dimwit. Come at me however you like."

Bulma grinned as she realized how funny it was for _Vegita_, of all people, to be criticizing someone for having a cocky attitude. "All right then, Vegita. Here I come!"

She flew at Vegita and began throwing the hardest blows she could at him, firing the jabs, kicks, and swipes so quickly that she was little more than a blur to the normal eye. Of course, this was nothing Vegita couldn't handle, and Bulma knew it. That was precisely why she had chosen to start off this way. It would make things all the more dramatic if she lulled him into one of his superiority complexes before she broke out the heavy artillery, and since this was the first time that she had ever really believed she had a chance at him, she was going to milk it for all that it was worth!

"Don't tell me this is it," Vegita jeered, effortlessly blocking each punch with his forearms and advancing on her all the while. Within seconds he had begun to push her back already, and he soon had her on the defensive.

Bulma just grinned, despite the fact that he was beginning to shoot a few well-aimed punches of his own at her, and she laughed cheerfully at him. "Of course not," she said, narrowly dodging away as he shot what would have been a very painful blow to the cheek at her. "I'm only getting warmed up!"

Vegita took that as his cue to turn up the heat a little, and turn it up he did! Almost immediately he had her on the run, pouring all of her energy into defensive maneuvers in an effort to keep ahead of him. He laughed at her and told her to quit wasting his time or he'd really get angry. Bulma grinned. He was really asking for it, wasn't he?

Although she hadn't tried this yet, Bulma knew what she had to do. It wasn't very hard to conceptualize these things when all the knowledge she needed was right there in her head. It was, however, a little unnerving to do something that she had never physically tried before, even if she did know how. Bulma figured she could manage, though. If Vegita wasn't challenged enough by her like this, then she'd simply have to turn up a little heat of her own. It took some concentration (which was easier said than done, considering all the defending she was having to do) but she managed to do something she'd never done before: she slowed the flow of time.

It made a world of difference. She could now see Vegita's movements much more clearly, and she had a lot more time to react to them. She let him hit her on his next punch so that she could find out what effect slowed time had on his attacks against her. It was more along the lines of one of his warning taps. It still smarted a fair bit, but it was much easier to keep out of his way now, so she resolved not to give him another freebie. It was time to show him (as well as herself) just what she could do with this new ability! Defense was extremely important, but it wasn't everything. She wanted to be able to do more than dodge his attacks. She was ready to see what kinds of results she could get from her own attacks in this new environment. Gritting her teeth, she threw a carefully aimed punch at his face as hard and as fast as she could.

To the utter surprise of both of them, the punch connected, and it even landed with enough force to knock him back a couple of paces. Bulma was so surprised that she lost her concentration and let time flow normally again.

She gaped at Vegita in amazement as he quickly regained his balance and stared back at her, the look of surprise on his face rivaling hers. He touched the place on his cheek where she'd struck him, and his mouth dropped open in amazement at the lingering sting that met his fingers. That had actually hurt!

"How… how did you _do_ that?" he asked, his eyes bugging out a little. "Where in blazes did that speed come from?"

Bulma was still too astonished at the moment to think rationally. "Are you all right?" she asked him. "I didn't really hurt your face, did I? I honestly didn't mean to hit you so hard…"

"Never mind my face!" Vegita growled impatiently. "How did you increase your speed like that? I demand that you explain immediately!"

Bulma snapped out of it. "Sorry," she said with an apologetic grin. "I guess I just surprised myself a bit. Well, I slowed the flow of time. When I slow the flow of time, it makes you appear to be moving more slowly to me, and it makes my movements seem faster to you. This really only has implications in terms of speed, of course. My strength doesn't increase or anything, but the fact that you weren't expecting it must have made it hit harder," she mused, eying with obvious disbelief the red splotch that was steadily rising on the skin of Vegita's left cheek.

Vegita stared at her incredulously. "And you just figured out how to do that all of the sudden?" he asked, eying her with a puzzled, mildly irritated stare.

"Er... well, you see, Vegita, there's something I have to tell you," she laughed, scratching the back of her head nervously. "It has everything to do with why you can't learn my techniques, too. I just wanted to see how well it would work before I told you, but I guess I can't keep the cat in the bag any longer."

She began to explain to him what had happened to her this morning after she'd gone upstairs with her mother to look at the book. She spared him no detail, and all throughout her entire tale, Vegita kept remarkably silent, his face strangely devoid of any hint of emotion. Even when she had finally finished, he didn't give whatever thoughts he was thinking away for a few moments. Finally, after bowing his head a little and twitching his eyebrow, he told her exactly what was on his mind.

"So," he said, raising his head and settling a cold, disapproving gaze on her. "You attempted all this - knowing full well that it might have killed you - without so much as telling me first?" His voice was quiet and calm, but coldly accusing.

Whoops. Bulma should have realized he'd pick up on that. He had her dead to rights there. For a moment she hesitated, unsure of how she wanted to answer him. "Yes," she said at last. "I did. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't want me to try."

Vegita's gaze hardened even more. "You knew I wouldn't approve, but you opened that book regardless?" he said, his voice icily quiet. "You did that on the assumption that your intentions were 'pure' enough to meet some unspecified standards? Did you think that idiot ancestor of yours would back you up if you didn't fit the bill?"

Bulma looked solemnly back at him and shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "I relied on nothing more than my own desire to protect you and everyone else from the threat that's coming. Yes, I was unsure that I would meet Chronos' standards, and yes, I went to Him anyway, knowing that you wouldn't want me to. Perhaps it was wrong of me to do that, but I don't regret it. If I had been wrong… well, I still wouldn't have regretted it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you first, but I'm not sorry for going through with the rest of it."

Vegita's gaze didn't soften any, but it didn't harden either. He considered what she'd said for a few moments, studying her as he mulled her words over in his mind. After a while, he unfolded his arms, walked over to her, and tightly gripped her shoulders in his hands.

"I won't tell you that I approve of what you did," he said quietly, staring unwaveringly into her eyes. "You know as well as I do that it would be a lie. I'm going to say something else, and I want you to pay attention, because I don't want to have to repeat myself to you on this. I won't stand for your trying to deceive me about anything, leastwise any threats to your safety. You are mine, and I refuse to allow you to take such chances! Do you understand me? Don't you ever do something that foolish again!" He yanked her to him with a testy growl, and he held her so tightly that he quite forced the wind out of her.

"I… I won't," she said breathlessly, raising her arms and laying them against his back. "I promise. I'm sorry, Vegita; I just had to do it."

"There should be nothing more important to you than staying alive," he snarled fiercely. "Nothing! Don't you _ever_ try some fool stunt like that again! I'm not training you so that you can take uncalculated risks! I'm training you to keep you from getting yourself killed! Have I made myself clear enough for that feeble brain of yours?"

Bulma sighed and closed her eyes. "I understand, Vegita," she said softly. "I won't do it again."

"See that you don't," he said, finally releasing her and stepping back a little. "Now, with that having been said, we'll discuss these new attack possibilities of yours. Essentially, that time-slowing ability seems to have the apparent effect of boosting your speed. We can make use of that. What other abilities have you acquired?"

"I haven't really tested any of them yet, but I do have a couple more ideas," she explained. "I'd like a chance to test them out first, if that's okay. I'd rather not waste any more of your time today than need be, and besides, I really only wanted to come out here to tell you what had happened, and give you a taste of the possibilities."

"All right then," he said with a look that bore a striking resemblance to approval. "When you resume training with me, we'll have to explore these abilities of yours more fully, but understand this," he said with an authoritative frown. "You are to follow my orders to the letter. This development changes nothing. If I tell you to stay in the normal flow of time, then you'd better do just that. Do you understand?"

Bulma smiled. "Yeah," she replied. "I understand, Vegita. You just want to make sure I develop the full extent of my power. You don't want me using any one technique as a crutch."

Vegita gave a grudging snort of assent. "Well, now I know what you interrupted my training to tell me," he said, turning and walking over to the gravity room doorway before pausing there to turn and glare at her, "so you can leave. You've wasted enough of my time."

Bulma laughed happily and trotted over to give him a quick peck on the cheek where she'd hit him earlier. "Thanks Vegita," she said, hugging him affectionately around the neck. "I knew I could count on your help with this!"

"Don't waste your thanks on such rubbish," he growled, prying her off of him and folding his arms with a scowl. "Things aren't going to be any less strenuous than before. If anything, they'll be worse. Don't think you'll be coming back to a picnic or anything. You may regret ever proposing this to me."

"No I won't," she laughed, turning and stepping away from him. "I don't care if you make it a hundred times harder, Vegita. As long as you make me stronger, I don't care!" With that she turned and trotted gleefully back to the house to tell her mother the good news. She was overcome by an incredible sense of joy, knowing that Vegita was going to help her work on these new skills of hers. She simply couldn't wait to get started!


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62: Unexpectedly Expecting**

Later that same evening, Bulma told Vegita that in two days' time she would resume training with him. She then spent the next couple of days working on some ideas for new attacks, and she came up with what she felt were a few really good ones, along with a multitude of duds. The failures didn't bother her too much, though. She was beginning to get back into the fervor of her training, and she couldn't help thinking that hardly anything could dampen her spirits now.

Mrs. Briefs was more than happy that Bulma was going to begin training with Vegita again, but she reminded her that she may not get a chance to see Goku and the others again for a while once she'd gotten back into her old training schedule. Why not visit them while she still had the time? They might be interested to hear what all had happened to her.

Bulma's reaction surprised her. She told her mother that she wasn't sure she wanted to tell anyone else just yet. She hadn't had time to develop her skills enough, and she preferred to wait until she had something really good to show them, she explained. (She didn't tell her mother that she wasn't really sure how to tell the others about her and Vegita yet.) Bulma just enjoyed what was left of her vacation, but it wasn't long at all before she picked up where she had left off with her training. In all honesty, she was really pretty happy to pick it back up again, too. It was easier for her to feel fulfilled when she was working hard at something. Whether it was her inventions or her training, it just made her feel good to be making progress. Of course, spending so much time with Vegita was a welcome bonus, too!

Over the next couple of months, she and Vegita trained rigorously as they worked out some of the more promising possibilities her new powers had to offer. One of her techniques was an enhancing move; that was her Time Decel (she had used that to name her time slowing technique), but the rest served specific purposes, as in the case of her Time Barrier (a field of super-slowed space-time which she could use as a barrier against physical attacks). She was able to use these abilities with the same degree of ease and speed that she could with her teleportation (which she now decided to call a Time Stop), and although that speed of use was the one weak link in the whole package, Vegita had grudgingly admitted that as long as she was very careful not to let her enemies get a chance to discover it, she might be able to get by.

In that sense, he stressed the necessity for her to end her battles quickly. If she could subdue her enemies before they had a chance to discover her weaknesses, she would be able to stay alive. Otherwise, she didn't have much chance. Even at her super-human level of ability, her strength and speed were laughable when compared to that of that boy from the future, and they both knew that he was no match for the jinzouningen. Still, Vegita's words gave Bulma hope. He'd never directly addressed a battle strategy with her until now, and it gave her more confidence than ever, because she knew he wouldn't have proposed one if he hadn't thought she could pull it off.

Although he took great pains not to let her see it, Vegita couldn't entirely hide from Bulma the fact that he was just as excited about all of this as she was. It opened up a world of possibilities as far as attacks were concerned, but that wasn't really what delighted him the most. The best part about Bulma's new power was that it offered her an incredibly simple and effective means of defending herself. Considering her level of ability when compared to that of her enemies in the battles to come, what she needed most at this point was a strong line of defense, and at least with this extra bit of help, she had a fair chance of avoiding deadly situations.

When he had told her that her defense was most important, Bulma had agreed wholeheartedly, as she could easily see the sense in his logic. Therefore, Vegita decided that their first goal would be to strengthen her defenses. He said that until she could defend herself from the worst he dared use in that building, they would concentrate on nothing else. Bulma agreed, but before long, she had begun to wonder why she'd agreed to something like that so easily. She'd had no earthly idea of just what tortures lay ahead of her.

Vegita hadn't been kidding on the day when she'd first told him about her visit to Chronos. Although his worst was a long way off, what he gave her to begin with was by far the worst he'd given her yet. If she'd thought she'd been tired and sore after a training session a few weeks ago, she felt like a nuclear blasting site nowadays. Despite all that, however, she was still happy. For the first time since she'd started all this training, she actually had a sense of hope - not just for her survival, but also for the chances they all shared. It hadn't occurred to her just how intensely Vegita had been training until she picked back up on her own. She discovered that he was training consistently in 350g's nowadays, and Bulma wasn't sure at what level someone had to be to go Super Saiyan, but she was pretty sure that Vegita was getting very close. She hoped she was right. Although she wanted him to succeed so that she could see him really happy, she couldn't help thinking that it wouldn't hurt to have an extra Super Saiyan on their side in a couple years' time!

Still, despite her happiness and the obvious progress she was making, Bulma was for some reason beginning to feel an inexplicable sense of peculiarity. It was like having a stranger tapping on her shoulder when she least expected it, and the feeling always seemed to strike at the most inopportune times. It was something she'd never felt before, and it made her very uneasy. She couldn't tell if it was physical or mental, but before long it was beginning to bother her too much for her to ignore it. Not knowing who else to go to with such a nebulous problem, she went to her mother. She told her all about what was going on, and she asked her if she had any suggestions.

"When did you first suspect something was off?" Mrs. Briefs asked her, arching one eyebrow quizzically, as if she was unsure what she should make of Bulma's predicament.

"I guess a couple of weeks ago," Bulma replied, scratching her head and thinking for a moment. "I don't know what's going on, Mom. I mean, I'm tired and sore all the time from my training, but that's not really it. Besides, I'm very happy, what with spending so much time with Vegita and feeling all the progress we're making. I don't see why I should feel so strange! I just don't get it! Do you think I should see a doctor? But if so, which one? Do I need a psychiatrist, or a physician?"

Mrs. Briefs looked at Bulma thoughtfully for a moment and tapped her chin. "I wonder…" she mused aloud. "Maybe you ought to see a doctor after all, Bulma," she concluded at last, smiling slightly as she seemed to be looking Bulma over.

"Why?" Bulma asked, sounding more nervous than before. "What do you think is wrong with me, Mom?"

Mrs. Briefs unfolded her arms and scrutinized Bulma a little more closely. "Turn to your left for me, would you dear?" she asked, turning Bulma to one side so that she could see her in profile. Although Bulma did as she asked, she was obviously quite confused.

"What is it, Mom?" she asked her mother. "What are you looking for?"

Mrs. Briefs shook her head indecisively and looked Bulma in the eyes. "Can I ask you a personal question, Bulma dear?" she asked her, looking a little more serious than usual. "I have a sneaking suspicion about this, but without more information, I can't know for sure."

"Sure," Bulma replied, turning back around and frowning. "You know there's not much I'd hide from you, Mom. Go ahead and ask away."

"How close have you and Vegita become, Bulma?" Mrs. Briefs asked, crossing her arms again and cocking her head to one side as though she was considering some difficult problem.

Bulma eyed her mother curiously. "Very close," she replied. "I'd never find another man who makes me as happy as he does, and I know he feels the same way about me."

"No, that's not what I meant," Mrs. Briefs said, shaking her head and smiling. "I guess I'll have to be more blunt. What I want to know is if you and Vegita have been physically intimate with one another."

"Oh," Bulma said, turning slightly pink. "That _is_ personal. Er… well, yes, we have. We have been since we stayed out at the island."

Mrs. Briefs smiled and nodded. "I thought so. I'm sorry to pry dear, but you see, that might be why you're feeling odd. Bulma, you just might be in the early stages of motherhood."

"I… what?" Bulma stuttered, going a little pale. "Don't kid with me like that, Mom! I'm not in the mood today!"

"I'm not joking with you, honey," Mrs. Briefs said gently. "I'm just telling you it's my suspicion. I don't know for sure, of course. You don't even have a bulge on your tummy. It's only a guess at this point, but that's why I think you need to see a doctor; I think you ought to find out for sure."

Bulma went even paler, and she sunk down onto the sofa. "You… you know, you might be right," she said shakily. "Mom, I've missed one of my cycles already. You don't suppose it could be a fluke, do you? I mean, it might be all the heavy training I've been doing, right?"

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "It might," she said, sitting down next to Bulma and patting her hand affectionately, "but just the same, I think you ought to take a test to be sure. Don't you think?"

Bulma hesitated a moment. "Should I tell Vegita first?" she wondered aloud. "Oh God, what is he going to say if I _do_ turn out to be pr... pre...?" She was unable to say it. It was as if saying the word was akin to dooming herself to that very fate.

Mrs. Briefs sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, honey," she said with a faint smile, "but I know that if he truly loves you, he won't love you any less if you are."

"I guess so," Bulma said, nodding slowly, "but it may not matter anyway. I mean, there's always a chance I'm not, right?"

"Don't worry, Bulma," her mother said warmly. "If you are, you are. The world will keep turning. You'll just have find out for yourself, but I'd suggest doing it soon, if I were you. It wouldn't do to let the uncertainty hang over you for too long."

"Yeah," Bulma sighed dejectedly. "I guess you're right. I don't know if I want to tell Vegita yet. I don't want to go through the hassle of telling him, only to find out later that it's nothing but a false alarm."

"What do you think _he_ would want?" her mother scolded her, standing and planting her fists on her hips. "It seems to me, young lady, that the last time you tried keeping secrets from Vegita there were some hard feelings. Do you think he'd like to be left in the dark about this, even if it is just a false alarm? Bulma, you're going to have to learn this, one way or another. The keys to keeping a relationship alive and healthy are honesty, trust, and good communication. I think he deserves to know about all this, even if it is a false alarm, and besides, I believe he'd _want_ to know."

Bulma looked at her mother in surprise. She hadn't expected to hear such stern words from her, of all people. Not surprisingly though, she also saw the sense in them. "You're right," she said, rather taken aback. "You're absolutely right. I was being selfish, wasn't I?"

"Well yes, maybe a little," Mrs. Briefs replied, relaxing a little and softening her expression. "Just try to keep what I said in mind from now on, Bulma. If you love Vegita, you have to be willing to share anything with him."

"You're right," Bulma sighed.

"I know I am," Mrs. Briefs said with a nod. "I've been married to your father for over twenty-five years, Bulma. I know what it means to truly love a man, and I know that, given time, you'll learn all the same things I've learned. I just want to give you a little hint on this one."

Bulma smiled. "All right," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'll tell him what's going on tonight after he's finished his workout."

- - - - -

That evening, Bulma waited anxiously outside the gravity room for Vegita. He was a little late coming out, but when he did, he stared at Bulma as though he had expected her to be there.

"What is it?" he asked her gruffly. "Don't tell me you've come to ask for another week off!"

"No, it's nothing like that," Bulma said, shaking her head and forcing a smile, but then she realized that being pregnant probably would make her have to take some time off of her training schedule eventually, and she grimaced. "Well, kind of, I guess… Vegita, I need to move my session with you a couple hours later than usual tomorrow."

"Is that so?" Vegita said, arching an eyebrow at her. "You think you can just sleep in whenever you choose, do you?"

"No," she said, shifting uncomfortably. "I have an appointment with my doctor in the morning, and I won't be back until around ten o'clock."

"What do you need to see a doctor for?" Vegita demanded, suddenly much more interested.

"Er… well, it's like this," she faltered, looking down at her feet and twisting her fingers together behind her back. "I'm not sure or anything, but I think I may be… well, that is I…" Her nerve was failing her. How on Earth was he going to react to all of this? What was she going to do if he got angry about it?

"Well, what is it?" Vegita snapped. "There's nothing wrong with the child, is there?"

"What?" Bulma asked, freezing immediately and beginning to lose quite a bit of color. "What did you say?"

"The child," Vegita said impatiently. "Our child. Is there some sort of complication?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked rather faintly. "What child?"

Vegita groaned. His impatience seemed to have doubled. "What kind of fool question is that?" he snapped at her. "I'm referring to the child you're carrying right now, of course!"

"I… I am?" she squeaked.

Suddenly Vegita understood why she was behaving so stupidly. "Are you telling me that you didn't know?" he asked in amazement. Bulma, now very pale in the face, nodded feebly at him. "Of all the stupid things!" Vegita cried, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "A woman who can't even tell when she's with child! You don't even know your own body well enough to figure out something so obvious?"

Bulma was too shocked to be defensive. "Are you sure?" she asked him. "How do you know?"

"Of course I'm sure!" he cried angrily. "Dammit, woman, I've sensed a separate life energy in there with you for over three weeks now! Don't tell me you haven't picked it up yet!"

Bulma couldn't believe it. Even though she knew he wouldn't lie to her about this, and even though it explained her peculiar state of mind over the past couple of weeks, she still couldn't believe it. "I had no idea," she said faintly.

"Earthlings!" Vegita bellowed in exasperation. "Weaklings and fools!"

Bulma looked at him, still quite dazed. "You knew all along, and you never mentioned it," she said quietly.

Vegita frowned. "I assumed it was understood," he grumbled. "How could I have known you hadn't figured it out? It was your own body, after all. Naturally, I assumed that you knew long before I did. I suppose I must have momentarily forgotten what idiots humans are."

Bulma looked rather perplexed. "So what do you think?" she asked him tentatively.

"About what?" Vegita said, expelling an impatient grunt as he glared at her.

"About having a baby," Bulma replied. "I didn't know until just now, but you've known for weeks. What do you think about it?"

"How many fool questions are you planning on asking me?" Vegita snapped. "What are you babbling about?"

"I should think it's obvious!" Bulma retorted, beginning to get a little angry herself. "What do you think about becoming a father? Are you angry? Are you happy? Do you even care? I want to know what thoughts entered your mind when you found out!"

Vegita sighed angrily and shook his head. "You're such a fool," he grumbled.

"Maybe so," Bulma shot back at him, "but that doesn't answer my question!"

Vegita snorted and crossed his arms. "Well, if you must know, I was concerned," he said, frowning slightly.

"You were?" Bulma asked anxiously. "Why?"

Vegita looked soberly at her. "I was concerned about bringing a child into the world knowing that he'd have to suffer with such an imbecile for a mother."

At first, Bulma just gaped at him in surprise, but all at once, with all the unchecked fury of an atomic blast, she exploded in anger. She punched at his face as hard as she could, but he blocked her strike with one hand, trapping her fist in it and holding it fast. "Dammit, Vegita!" she yelled. "I'm serious! I don't want to hear garbage like that! Not now! Not about this!"

Vegita laughed as she swung at him with her other fist, and he caught it just as neatly. "Idiot," he chuckled. "You're only proving my point."

"_Yaargh_!" Bulma screamed. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Vegita sneered. "Sure you are," he said calmly. With a speed that Bulma had no chance of following, he let go of her fists, grabbed her about the waist, and threw her over his left shoulder. He then strode nonchalantly to his capsule house, hauling his kicking and screaming captive with him as he went.

"Put me down!" she howled furiously at him. "I'll rip you to pieces, Vegita!"

"Oh, please spare me," he chuckled sarcastically, giving her a rough slap on the behind as he kicked open the door to his capsule house and strode inside. "I'm trembling with fear, you know!"

After letting out a scream of angry protest in response to the embarrassing way Vegita had replied to her threat, Bulma craned her neck and saw that Vegita was toting her into his bedroom. "If you think I'm going to sleep with you, you're out of your mind!" she screeched at him. "Let me _go_, dammit!" She kicked ferociously at him and pounded his back with her fists as he carried her into the bedroom and unceremoniously dumped her onto his bed.

She would have leapt to her feet then, but Vegita had her pinned before she could even move a muscle. She glared into his smirking face with a rage that she hadn't displayed for a very long time.

"If you do this, I swear I'll never forgive you," she snarled, her eyes blazing with fury.

Vegita chuckled a little but held her still when she began to struggle again. "I'm not going to do anything to you while you're behaving like such an idiot," he said with a sneer. "Don't flatter yourself so much."

"Then what's the big idea of hauling me around like a sack of potatoes?" Bulma snapped at him, "and why won't you let go of me, for heaven's sake?!"

Vegita grinned. "I'm simply taking your death threat seriously," he said innocently. "I prefer to keep you where I can see you. Don't you think that's the wisest thing to do when given the grave manner of threat that I have?"

Bulma scowled. She wasn't finding his antics funny at all. "I know what you're up to," she growled. "You're just trying to get out of giving me a serious answer to my question. Don't change the subject. If you don't want the baby then tell me, because I'd rather know for sure than to have to play games with you about it."

Vegita's grin faded. "I never said I didn't want the baby," he said quietly. "Don't put words into my mouth."

Bulma sighed and forced herself to calm down a little. "Well, that's the impression I'm getting," she said. "It isn't like you to crack jokes. Something's bothering you about it, and I want to know what it is."

Vegita frowned and he let go of her arms. "What do you think is bothering me?" he said quietly. "We're in the middle of training for a battle against enemies we've never even seen. If what that kid said is true, they'll be incredibly powerful. We've got a lot more training to do, and a child will only be a distraction to us."

Bulma looked up at him with a hurt expression. "Only a distraction," she repeated, turning her head aside a little.

Vegita sighed. "Woman, we can't stop training," he said fiercely. "I can't stop. I haven't even reached the level of Super Saiyan yet. I can't let anything stand in the way of that. It's not that I don't want the child; it's just that this one came at a bad time."

Bulma closed her eyes and sighed. "So what's going to happen then?" she asked quietly. "What do you want me to do about it? Get an abortion? Is that what you want?"

"A what?" Vegita asked, looking somewhat confused. "What is an abortion?"

Bulma opened her eyes and frowned at him. "An abortion essentially causes the mother to have a miscarriage," she said with a scowl. "People on my planet do it for different reasons, but I'm very much against it. In my eyes, it's no different from killing a child who's been born already."

Vegita shook his head, horrified by what she had just told him. "I never said for you to do such a thing!" he exclaimed. "Bad timing or not, this child is ours, and I'll be damned if _anyone's_ going to force you to kill it!"

Bulma's eyes widened at his vehement response, but then they began to fill with tears. "Oh, Vegita," she said as her lips began to tremble. "I… I don't know why I thought of such a beastly thing!" She then began to cry, and Vegita groaned and shook his head at her.

"Honestly, woman," he grumbled, kissing her gently on the forehead as he settled himself down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You cry entirely too much, too easily."

"I'm sorry," Bulma sobbed. "It's just that I'm so worried!"

"Why?" he asked her. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know anything about raising a child!" she wailed. "I don't even know how to change a diaper! Besides," she added, sniffling and shaking her head. "What kind of world will we be bringing it into? What if the Jinzouningen are more powerful than we are? I don't want to give birth to an innocent child, only to have him or her destroyed by Gero's monsters!"

Vegita simply shook his head. "Don't be foolish," he chided her. "I'll be more than strong enough for his mechanical junk piles by then. Besides, no one's going to harm any child of mine. Not while I'm around!"

Bulma gave a shaky sigh and shook her head. "We don't know that for certain yet, Vegita," she said sadly. "I know you'll train your hardest, and by the time the Jinzouningen do appear, you'll be much stronger than you are now, but you don't know for sure if all your training will be enough. None of us do. I have faith in you; you must know that, but even so, none of us can tell the future. All we can do is train as hard as we can and hope it will be enough. I just can't help worrying about what's to come, and the fact that we'll have a child by then doesn't help at all."

Vegita snorted impatiently. "Fine," he said at last. "You just go right ahead and worry then, if that's what you want. I can see that nothing I say is doing any good."

"I'm sorry, Vegita," Bulma sighed. "I'm not as optimistic as you and Goku are. I think the fact that I'm not a Saiyan has something to do with it. You guys _love_ to fight strong opponents all the time, regardless of what may be on the line, but I'm more cautious than that. Besides, I don't have the strength or the experience that either of you do. Even with the new abilities Chronos gave me, I know I'm not prepared for anything we have coming up, and I can't help thinking that no one else is either."

"You'll see," Vegita said, looking her gravely in the eyes. "When I smash that doddering old fool's toys into nothing but scrap metal, you'll see how ridiculous you've been."

"Yeah. I hope so," Bulma sighed, smiling at him and shaking her head. "That'll be a great sight to see, won't it?"

Vegita smirked, and she sighed again as she settled in up against him. She wasn't really any more confident about the future now than she was before, but there was no need to dwell on that, because she knew all too well that she had no way of predicting what was to come, and she never would. At least she knew that Vegita wasn't going to reject her or anything because she was going to have a baby. Her mother had been right about him after all. Maybe things would somehow manage to turn out okay. She could only hope that all her worrying was as needless as Vegita had made it out to be.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63: Fright Night Flight**

It didn't take Bulma too long to finally accept the fact that she was going to be a mother, even though the thought was still a bit overwhelming. She really had no idea what to expect. Sure, she knew what went on inside the body of a pregnant woman; that had been one of the most basic processes she'd learned about in her anatomical sciences courses at college. Knowing general facts and tendencies didn't do much to ease her mind about the matter, though. For one thing, she knew that no two pregnancies were ever alike, and there was really no telling which specific problems lay ahead of her. For all she knew, she could have severe complications later on in the baby's development - complications that she and/or the baby could die from. That, of course, was her worst fear. She knew that the chances of that's happening were fairly slim in this day and age, but there was another factor to consider as well. It was what set her apart from all women on this planet: she was carrying a baby that was half-Saiyan. She wasn't sure what effects that fact might have on her delivery, so she worried about that.

On the other hand, she did have to take into account the fact that her own personal strength and resilience were far beyond those of normal human women. Even if her baby was half-Saiyan, perhaps she was strong enough that it wouldn't matter. After all, Chichi had Gohan, and even though she was uncommonly strong, Chichi was more along the lines of a normal-strength human than Bulma was, and she had been just fine, apparently. Knowing that helped her confidence some, but not enough to wipe all doubts from her mind.

It wasn't long before Bulma decided to go to her mother to find out if she had any advice or information that might give her more confidence in what she was doing. It turned out to be the best thing she could have done.

"Hey Mom," she said one evening as she was helping her mother cook dinner. "I've been thinking this whole baby thing over, and I'm getting kind of nervous. I mean, I don't exactly know what I'm getting into here. I don't know a thing about kids, and I know even less about having one. How will I be able to know that whatever I'm doing will be the right thing for the baby?"

Mrs. Briefs smiled and gave Bulma's hand a light squeeze. "That's where having me around might come in handy," she laughed. "You're looking at a woman who's been though all that already, honey! If you have questions, I can give you the answers!"

Bulma's eyes lit up almost immediately. "Of course!" she exclaimed, smacking herself in the head for not seeing it until now. "You've already had a kid! Me! You could help me figure all this stuff out a lot better than I could on my own, couldn't you? Thanks, Mom. I can always count on you for the right answers, can't I?" she laughed, giving her mom a hug.

"I do my best," Mrs. Briefs laughed, sounding very flattered indeed. "So tell me; what would you like to know?"

From that point on, Bulma went straight to her mother with anything and everything that popped into her knowledge-thirsty head. She learned a great deal about what pregnancy had been like for her mother, and as she hoped, what she might expect for herself. She listened eagerly to her mother's accounts of all the strangeness and experiences she had gone through, and although not all of what she learned sounded very pleasant, some of it sounded downright wonderful.

It was during one such talk with Mrs. Briefs that Bulma realized for the first time that she actually wanted to have the baby. Mrs. Briefs was explaining some little quirks of pregnancy to her over lunch when this epiphany dawned on Bulma.

"So anyway," her mother said, sipping her tea and smiling at Bulma. "There are some things you always hear about when there's talk of having a baby, and a lot of them aren't as set in stone as you might think. For example," she said, holding up her index finger. "That whole business about strange cravings is ridiculous, in my opinion. I don't really know if this is true for everybody, but my eating habits didn't change a bit when I became pregnant with you. Your father can vouch for that. I don't know if it's unique to each person or what, but personally, I think it's just a way of demanding attention from your husband," she giggled. "Maybe I should have tried it just for the fun of it." She and Bulma both laughed at that.

"That brings me to another point," she said, smiling happily. "What I ate didn't change, but neither did how much I ate. You don't have to stuff yourself just because you're going to have a baby. I personally think this 'eating for two' stuff is a load of hooey. At least, that's what my doctor told me, and I believed him," she laughed. "All you're going to achieve by overeating like that is making yourself fat. The best advice I can give you is to eat when you're hungry and don't eat when you're not. That's precisely what you've been doing for years, so I don't think that'll be too hard for you. Just make sure that, in addition to your food, you're taking those prenatal vitamins the doctor prescribed for you too."

"I am," Bulma said, nodding and laughing, "and I've got a load of other appointments with those doctors in the works too. I'm getting more attention now than I did after getting beaten up by Vegita and Nappa!"

"Good," Mrs. Briefs said, nodding in approval. "You can't be too careful. Better to see the doctors too often than not enough. Besides, your father and I can afford some extra visits, so feel free to take advantage of us as much as you like!"

Bulma laughed. "Sure thing," she said, grinning. "Well, here's another thing, Mom. What about morning sickness? I know that happens, because I had a professor in college who suffered terribly from it. I haven't had any problems with it yet myself, though. Do you think I will?"

Mrs. Briefs shook her head. "It does happen to a lot of women," she agreed, "but the women of our family generally don't have a problem with it. I never had it," she said, shrugging matter-of-factly. "That sort of thing usually happens in the first trimester, and if it hasn't happened to you yet, I'm fairly sure you won't have a problem with it. I wouldn't worry too much about it, if I were you."

Bulma nodded. "So what's labor like?" she asked. "Is it really painful?"

Her mother frowned. "It depends," she said, thinking for a moment. "That sort of thing is different from woman to woman. For some women, it's the most horrible pain they'll ever experience. For others, it's no more to them than a particularly strong cramp. It was pretty harsh for me, I have to admit," she said with a smile. "Given your physique, and what you go through every day with Vegita, I'm pretty sure it won't be too much of a challenge for you, though."

Bulma chuckled nervously and fidgeted with her hands. "I've heard some horror stories," she admitted. "They make me wonder why women have babies in the first place. It sounds awfully scary."

"Oh, it's always worth it," her mother chuckled. Mrs. Briefs noticed Bulma's eager expression, and she could see right away that her daughter was hoping she'd elaborate. She smiled at her. "The moment you hold your child for the first time, all that pain will melt out of your body and your mind," she said. "You'll know that the tiny, fragile little life you're cradling in your arms is the product of the love you and Vegita share for one another. You two have achieved one of the most special and miraculous of acts. You have created life. That child," she said, patting Bulma lovingly on the tummy, "is a gift for both of you to treasure."

A light shone in Bulma's eyes that had never been there before. "Wow," she breathed, awestruck. "I've never thought about it that way before." She giggled almost nervously and looked down at the table. "I wonder what kind of father Vegita will be?" she said with a happy grin.

Mrs. Briefs chuckled. "He strikes me as the type who doesn't know much about children either," she said with a smile. "I'd be willing to bet that he'll be rather intimidated at first."

Bulma laughed. "Vegita, intimidated by a little baby?" she hooted. "Now that's something that would be worth seeing!"

"Oh Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs laughed. They both laughed at the very idea of Vegita's being 'intimidated' by something so small and helpless. That was when Bulma decided that having a baby wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Even if it had come at a bad time, she had to admit that the idea was growing on her. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe having a child would bring her and Vegita even closer together, if such a thing was possible.

- - - - -

For the next few months at least, her training with Vegita progressed as usual. In fact, it progressed much more ferociously than usual, much to Bulma's dismay. Vegita seemed to be making every effort to train her as hard and as long as he could. It was getting to the point where he was driving Bulma into unconsciousness nearly every day, and although her mother and father had tried admonishing him for being so hard on her for the first few weeks of his having to carry her home to bed, he refused to listen to them, and told them to mind their own damn business. They did try talking to Bulma about it, but she told them that if Vegita felt that these measures were necessary, that they should trust him on it. She had total faith in his method, and she wasn't going to stand for it if they tried to disrupt it, because it would only create problems all around.

Still, much as she did to convince her parents that Vegita was being entirely reasonable, she really was having trouble making herself believe it. After enduring the first month of unprecedented pain, insults, and exhaustion, she was understandably beginning to get very frustrated, herself. She would have been the last person to admit aloud that she thought he was being too rough with her, but she couldn't help thinking just that from time to time. It was as if he was blissfully unaware that she was already three and a half months pregnant, or even worse, that he just didn't care.

One day, during one such training session, she happened to be thinking those same mutinous thoughts. When it came to the point where she knew she couldn't take another hit without getting knocked out, she finally snapped. As Vegita dove in for the final blow, she ignored her reason and listened to her instincts. She slowed time and jumped aside, dodging his attack. Then, as he sailed past her, she brought both arms up above her head, fists clenched together, and with all the force she could muster, she slammed them down onto his back.

The effect was immediate. Vegita smashed into the floor, uttering a forceful grunt as the wind got knocked out of him. Bulma gradually - and rather unwillingly - gave up her hold on time, and its flow ebbed out into normalcy. She staggered backwards a bit, panting violently but refusing to let her wobbly legs buckle beneath her. She knew an explosion was coming, but she simply refused to let her body give out on her before she could meet it with her own.

Vegita hadn't been hurt at all by his trip to the floor, but his surprise had prevented him from righting himself immediately. Rise he did, however, once he got over the initial shock. Glaring at Bulma with a look so ineffably furious that it couldn't possibly have been described by the English language, he slowly picked himself up and turned to face her, his fists balled tightly from his anger.

"Go ahead!" she snarled at him. "Go right on ahead! Yell and scream all you want to about it! I don't care! Training or not, I'm not about to let you knock me senseless again! Do you hear me? Not anymore!"

Vegita growled threateningly. "I told you to reserve that skill only for the times I specified!" he spat at her. "I won't tolerate such blatant insubordination!"

"Go stuff yourself!" she bellowed, her chi flaring a bit in her self-righteous fury. "I'm not your punching bag, you insensitive asshole! I may be strong, but I'm still human! The way you've treated me over the past month is intolerable! If it had been normal training, that would have been one thing, but this 'beat the holy shit out of Bulma until she collapses' garbage has got to stop! I'm three months pregnant, dammit! If you cared at all, you'd realize that slamming me around all over the place and knocking me unconscious isn't doing me or the baby any good!"

Bulma was too involved in her own hysterics to notice that her knees were shaking so terribly that her whole body was wobbling. She did notice though, when they finally gave out on her and she dropped to her hands and knees. "Damn you," she whispered fiercely through gritted teeth. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head as tears began to come to the surface. "I just can't take it any more!"

Vegita sighed and shook his head. "Idiot," he grumbled, walking over to the gravity machine and turning it off. "I knew you'd cave on me eventually. You're such a weak little fool."

"Heh," Bulma laughed, her voice cracking a little. "Yeah, I am a fool," she said dryly, collapsing onto her side and drawing a ragged breath. "A fool for making myself endure this torture for so long."

Vegita snorted and crossed his arms, leaning against the gravity machine and looking down at her. Bulma expected to see anger, or at least scorn on his face, but she saw neither. What she saw was more along the lines of indifference.

"I'm not training you so rigorously to punish you," he said soberly, frowning a little, "and I'm well aware that you're three months pregnant. I've done nothing to you to endanger either you or the child."

"That's a laugh," Bulma said, chuckling feebly. "I bet you really believe that, too."

Vegita smirked. "You underestimate me," he said, shaking his head at her. "How many times do I have to tell you? I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Have you ever considered that you might be overestimating me?" she asked him quietly, scowling and averting her eyes. "I'm sure I'm not nearly as indestructible as you must think I am. If you really knew what you were doing, you wouldn't be working me so hard, you asshole."

Vegita frowned. "Woman, what you fail to see is that the reason that I've increased your training regimen so dramatically is the very fact that you _are_ only so far along in your pregnancy. I'm doing the best I can with what little time I have. It won't be very much longer before you're too far along to do much of anything."

"Oh God," Bulma groaned, rolling over onto her back and closing her eyes angrily. "Is that what this has been all about? For Heaven's sake, Vegita!"

"Am I wrong in thinking that Earth women also become somewhat disabled during the later stages of pregnancy?" he asked her with a rather perplexed frown.

"No," Bulma said angrily. "You're right about that. I just can't believe you've been putting me through all this hell just so you can try to make up for the time I'm going to lose in here later on! I mean, it's ridiculous! Killing me now isn't going to make things any easier on me later on, Vegita! I'm not a Saiyan, for crying out loud!"

"Feh. Don't remind me," he muttered, shaking his head in disgust.

"Look," she sighed, opening her eyes in exasperation. "I have no intention of quitting my training, Vegita, but you've got to ease up on me a little. This sort of thing would be too rough for me even if I weren't pregnant. Now granted, I'm going to have some catching up to do after I have the baby, but it won't be all that bad. Besides, I'll continue my training all the way through. The exercises may not be as harsh later on, but I'm not going to regress into inactivity simply to have a baby!"

Vegita scowled and thought it over for a few moments. He didn't seem too pleased about it; that much she could gather. Finally, he just shook his head and sighed.

"All right," he said at last. "I'll reduce the magnitude of your training to a less strenuous level, but you'll regret this later on; I can guarantee it."

Bulma sighed. "Maybe," she said grudgingly, "but now, I don't see it as anything but the right decision."

They remained where they were for a few moments then, not moving and not speaking. Finally Vegita shifted rather uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Well, are you leaving or aren't you?" he asked her gruffly.

"Give me a few minutes," Bulma said with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm still trying to regain the feeling in my legs."

- - - - -

True to his word, Vegita did ease up on Bulma after that, and things were generally a lot more agreeable for her. Slowly but surely, the months crawled by, and after many successive decreases in difficulty, Vegita finally decided that sparring exercises and energy training had become too dangerous for Bulma. He placed her on a regimen of the most basic of physical exercises after that, in reduced but moderate levels of gravity, under his close supervision. It wasn't easy, but Bulma was determined to keep as fit as possible.

Her doctors didn't approve, of course, but since they didn't really know the true extent of Bulma's abilities, she didn't take their warnings all that seriously. She figured that as long as she didn't take any hard falls onto her stomach, she wasn't going to hurt the baby. Vegita had an interesting take on things. He had explained to her that Saiyan women often went on missions even during the middle and later stages of pregnancy. He told her that in their case at least, the strength of the mother not only protected the baby, but also was shared with it. Bulma didn't know if that applied to humans, but she was inclined to think so. Still, she knew she had to take extra care, and she did. She was very sparing with her flying nowadays, and she really didn't do much else that the doctors forbade her to do. She was aware that she was in some ways beyond their scope of knowledge, but she didn't forget the fact that she was still human, and that she was prone to human frailties.

There were so many things to do to prepare for the baby's arrival. Bulma and her parents had a plan of action ready for the final moments; that was the easy part. It was harder preparing for everything else. Lamaze classes were a joke; of course Vegita was too busy training to come. She hadn't expected him to be there for the actual delivery anyway, though. He had already told her that Saiyan men were rarely ever present at the births of their children, and that he wasn't going to be one to break tradition. Naturally, Bulma was a little put out with him for this, but after a while she grew to accept it. It was just another of his annoying quirks. Besides, she doubted he'd behave normally in the hospital anyway. It took very little to make Vegita blow his top, and the moment the doctors told him to do something he didn't want to do, he'd take it the wrong way and perhaps blast away an entire wing of the hospital or something. At least, that's what she figured. Still, she knew that she would prefer to have him there with her for support anyway. Oh well. With Vegita, sometimes you just had to take what you could get. He wasn't perfect, but she honestly didn't mind all that much. She knew she wasn't perfect either, and besides, the subtle niceties here and there made up for whatever annoyances she discovered in him. Vegita was Vegita, and she knew she should expect no more of him than that.

There were minor disputes as time wore on, but nothing truly earth-shattering. Bulma and Vegita bickered on a regular basis anyway, even without the prospect of a baby, but they did have heated battles over various baby-related things from time to time, and the worst one erupted over the issue of what to name the new member of the family.

It happened on the day that Bulma's ultrasound results finally were able to confirm the baby's gender. Bulma was so excited and eager to tell everyone the news that she didn't even bother driving back, like the doctors had ordered her to do. Instead, she flew home at top speed, and she arrived at the compound only minutes later.

The first thing she did was to race to the gravity room to tell Vegita. When she reached it, she didn't even bother announcing her arrival. She instead punched the buttons at the control terminal to shut off the power and cut off the locks to the door. Then she zoomed around to the door and flung it open before dashing inside.

She was only three feet inside before she crashed into Vegita, who had just turned toward the door. With a loud grunt, she bounced back off of him and stumbled backward a little. Vegita grabbed her by the arms, and she just narrowly escaped tumbling backwards out the door.

"Whew!" she gasped. "Thanks, Vegita!"

"What is the meaning of this? " Vegita exploded at her, yelling in her face. "What in devil's name are you doing? Have you entirely lost your mind?!"

Bulma shook her head and waved her arms at him excitedly. "Never mind that!" she cried impatiently. "I couldn't wait to get back and tell you! It's a boy! We're having a boy!"

"A boy?" Vegita asked, momentarily stunned. "How do you know?"

"The ultrasound!" Bulma cried excitedly. "The ultrasound showed us what he looks like! Oh Vegita, he looks so beautiful!"

Vegita sighed and shook his head. "Blast it all, woman," he growled. "Don't you think you could have delivered this news more carefully? What if you had tripped and fallen? You're so clumsy as it is, I'm surprised the child has survived this long!"

Bulma shot him a very hurt look. "I've been very careful!" she exclaimed. "I just got excited, that's all! I just thought that, you know… well, I couldn't wait to tell you the news."

Vegita rolled his eyes skyward. "Earthlings," he said in disgust.

Bulma grinned at him. "So what do you think, _Dad_?" she asked playfully. "In another four months, you'll get to see your son face to face."

"Well, if he's as weak as his mother," Vegita snorted, "I shudder to think of all the work I have ahead of me."

Bulma laughed and gave him a few playful kicks in the shins. "You just wait until he's grown up a little. I'll bet you won't have to wait long to see that he'll be even stronger than I am!"

Vegita chuckled a bit then. "You're right," he said with a grin. "I won't have long at all to wait for that, will I?"

He laughed, and Bulma stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, there were a couple of things I wanted to discuss with you," she said, suddenly remembering what else she needed to tell him. "First of all, there's something I haven't told you, but I've known it for a few months. I'm sorry for not telling you, but I wasn't really sure how I felt about it myself. In the end, I've decided that it would be best to just tell you and get it over with."

"Well, spit it out, woman!" Vegita said impatiently. "What's got you so agitated now?"

Bulma smiled slightly at him. "Our son has a tail," she said, wrapping her arms around behind him and patting him lightly with one hand where his tail used to be. "The doctors didn't really know what it was at first, but I did, and I didn't tell them then, but they've guessed it by now. At any rate, I don't care what they think. That's not what's been bothering me. What's been bothering me about it is that I was worried about what might happen if we raise a child with a tail. I was afraid - afraid of the possibility that he might transform. The moon is gone, but someone might wish it back someday. You never know. After a while, I decided that I wasn't being fair. It wasn't wholly my decision to make, you know? This is something we have to decide together. Besides, I figured in the end that this was also something that you would know more about than I do. I want to know what you think. Do you want to have the tail removed when he's born, or do you think we ought to leave it?"

Vegita frowned. "You're right," he said gravely. "This wasn't something for you alone to decide. I won't allow anyone to remove his tail. That's one of the worst insults imaginable to one of Saiyan lineage. I suppose I can understand your concern, though," he said with a grudging shrug. "To the average Earthling, staring at a fully transformed Oozaru is like staring at death itself. If he were to transform, he would be a threat to all who were weaker than he. However," he said, arching an eyebrow, "you should have realized that I would easily be able to keep him in check. What's more, I would be able to teach him how to control his power in such situations. Oozaru are not all mindless brutes. You saw that for yourself when I transformed."

"That's true," Bulma admitted. She looked into his eyes. "But what about me?" she asked quietly. "Until you were able to get him in check, what would happen to me? Would I be able to defend myself, or would he be too strong for me?"

Vegita snorted. "You'd be fine for the first five or six years at least," he said with a smirk. "Regardless, this planet's moon is gone, so you have nothing to worry about unless it gets wished back."

Bulma sighed. "All right then. Oh, but what about its being a weakness to him?" she asked, scratching her chin a bit. "I think it's safe to assume that he'll become another martial artist after his parents, but a tail is going to be a weakness if he doesn't train it properly. You and Nappa were able to do it; I suppose our boy could do the same."

"Of course he could," Vegita snorted. "The fact that a weakling like Nappa could do it is proof enough of that."

Bulma laughed and shook her head. "If it was so easy then why didn't Radditz do it?" she asked him with a coy grin.

Vegita scowled. "Because Radditz was a fool," he grumbled, "and a truly low-class warrior. He always assumed he could keep his tail out of reach. The deluded idiot found out about his flawed reasoning the hard way."

Bulma nodded. "Well, I guess I agree with you then," she said with a shrug. "As long as you think it won't hurt him to leave his tail, we'll leave it. It might cause him some problems when he's old enough to go to school, but I doubt he'd make much of a target for bullying if he's anything like us!"

Vegita snorted at her. "Was that all you wanted to discuss?" he asked her.

"No," she said, letting go of him and stepping back a little. "There was also the issue of what we are going to name him."

Vegita grunted and crossed his arms. "That's a simple matter," he replied. "He'll be named Vegita, just as his father, and just as my father's father named him."

"Er… I don't know," Bulma faltered. "I mean, if we were living on planet Vegita that would be one thing, but we're on Earth. Besides, don't you think it'll be confusing? You know, having two Vegitas in the same household?"

Vegita glared at her. "Well of course _we_ won't call him Vegita," he said impatiently. "That name is reserved for others to use. We can call him whatever we like, but even if he does grow up on Earth, he still needs a name that demands respect. He's of noble blood, after all."

Bulma was trying not to convey her thoughts in a way that would offend Vegita, but she knew it was a lost cause. "Vegita," she sighed. "We can't call him that name - not unless you want to call him Vegita Junior or something like that. To be perfectly honest, I don't really think I want my son and my husband to have the same name."

"Oh you don't?" he said, his voice quieting dangerously. "I suppose you have a better name in mind?"

"Well, yes," she lied defensively. "I've thought of lots of names that are better than that one, but I know you won't like any of them."

"I'm inclined to agree," he said with a sneer, "but I'm not entirely unreasonable. Go ahead; try me."

Bulma glared back at him as she tried to come up with a name on the spur of the moment. "Er… how about… Trunks?" she said after a moment's hesitation. She suddenly had a peculiar sense of déjà vu, as if she'd heard that name somewhere before. "Yes. Trunks," she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring defiantly at Vegita. "I think that's a fine name, don't you?"

Vegita scowled at her. "No son of mine is going to have such an undignified name!" he growled.

"It was the name of my great-grandfather, and although it's a little dated now, I think it's a fine name!" she retorted indignantly. "What's so undignified about it, anyway?"

Vegita gave her a dry laugh. "Nothing," he said with an angry grin. "That is, nothing if you want your son to be named after an article of clothing."

"And just what is wrong with that?" Bulma asked, and this time her voice quieted dangerously. She took a step closer to Vegita and glared fiercely at him.

"It's idiotic, that's what," Vegita replied, obviously not intimidated. "Only a fool would name his child after something so stupid."

"Oh yeah?" Bulma said angrily. "Well only a complete moron would name his child after vegetables!"

They glared furiously at one another, and one could all but see the sparks flying from one set of eyes to the other. Finally, Vegita smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine," he said affably. "We'll settle this how we'd settle it on planet Vegita. When you recover from the boy's birth, we'll do battle, and the winner will choose his name."

"Fine!" Bulma retorted hotly. "If that's what it'll take to avoid giving my child a stupid name, then I'm all for it!"

So that was that. The matter of their son's name went unresolved, at least for the time being. That was about the worst conflict worth mentioning. For the most part, Bulma and Vegita didn't discuss the baby all that often. Bulma had learned in the beginning that Vegita was more absorbed in his training than he was in the baby, so she only bothered giving him the highlights. She would have preferred him to be more interested, but she was well aware that trying to change anything about Vegita was about as easy as teaching Goku trigonometry. She had to take him as he was. Still, she was sure just the same that he was more interested than he let on, and that - she figured - was enough.

Time marched on, and slowly but surely, Bulma's girth grew more and more. As the projected date for her delivery grew ever closer, she became more and more nervous. She was moodier than ever nowadays, and everyone around the compound knew it, and knew to stay clear of her when she looked just the slightest bit angry. Only Vegita was indifferent. Her training sessions with him were about the only thing that gave her a good chance to let off steam, and Vegita was probably the best man for the job. He found Bulma's hair-trigger temper nowadays to be tremendously amusing, and he wasted no opportunity to push her buttons. There were countless instances of her deserting her exercises to fly at him in rage, and he teased and goaded her shamelessly whenever she did. Although Bulma sometimes thought he was trying to drive her crazy, he was really only having a little fun with her. Besides, he was actually doing a great deal of good, even if neither of them were entirely aware of it. He wore Bulma out so much that she was usually too tired afterwards to be angry with anybody else, and she was a much more agreeable person for most of the day. Truth be told, even if she did end up flying at him in an uncontrollable rage from time to time, she was grateful to be able to keep as active as she was. Even when she had reached a full eight months, she was still going strong, much to Vegita's satisfaction. Even he had little (valid) complaint to offer her regarding her efforts to keep trim and in shape throughout it all.

- - - - -

Although it made her more and more anxious as the weeks crawled by, the day they all knew was coming couldn't be stopped, and come it did, at a time when none of them was ready for it. Bulma was taking a walk around the compound one quiet, cloudless evening when it happened - she felt her water break. For a split second she froze, her mind on the brink of panic. She took a moment to calm herself down, however, and she only trembled a little as she walked back to the house. Once there, she quietly informed her parents that the moment they'd been preparing for had finally arrived.

It was as if she had dropped a bomb on the household. Her mother immediately rushed upstairs to get their clothes and care package they had prepared in advance, and her father ran circles there in the kitchen while he tried frantically to remember what it was he was supposed to do. Bulma watched him curiously and wondered if he had done the same thing when her mother had been in her predicament.

"You and Mom get the car ready," she said calmly, trying not to laugh at her father's comical antics. "I'm going to go tell Vegita that we're leaving. I'll come back with him if he wants to come, so make sure you leave enough room for him, just in case, okay?"

"R-right! Yeah! The car!" her father exclaimed. "I have to get the car! Thanks, Bulma!" He rushed out the kitchen door and ran to the workshop to grab his capsule case. Bulma shook her head and sighed as she left after him and walked briskly to the gravity room. She was going to have to be really alert on the way to the hospital, because considering the frantic state of mind her father was in, he was liable to try to get them all killed by driving into a tree or something. She grinned. He was such a goof.

"Vegita," she said, turning on the vid-cam and causing him to pause to look up at the screen.

"What is it?" he asked her gruffly, obviously not pleased by her interruption. "What do you want now?"

"I just wanted to let you know that my parents and I are heading for the hospital," she said, her voice strangely subdued. "I thought I'd let you know in case you'd changed your mind and wanted to come too."

"Now why would I want to do a…" he began, looking up crankily, but when he saw the strangely pale face that met his eyes, he cut his sentence short. "You mean… now? It's happening?" he asked her in disbelief.

"Yes," she replied shakily. She was beginning to feel an unexpectedly powerful wave of pain wash over her, and she stifled a gasp. "Ungh… I've got to get back…" she said in a strained, somewhat disconnected voice. She turned and walked shakily back toward the house, forgetting to turn off the terminal. She had the strangest feeling that something wasn't right, and she didn't have much time to waste walking around.

In seconds Vegita had come crashing out of the gravity room and had rushed up to her side. "What the hell are you doing prancing around the compound at a time like this?!" he demanded. She wavered a little as she turned to look at him, but she didn't slow her pace.

"I had to tell you before I left," she said with a grin. "What did you expect me to do? Go off and have the baby without telling you?"

Vegita growled impatiently. "Little fool," he said with a scowl. "You should know better than to go wandering off when our son's birth is knocking at the door! Why didn't you send one of your dimwit parents to come get me? Didn't you even consider what might have happened?"

Bulma wasn't really listening. Another wave of pain hit her, and this one was more insistent than the last. "Ohh…" she groaned, staggering a little and grabbing onto his shoulder to steady herself. "This isn't good…"

"Hey!" he exclaimed, his voice now sounding much less angry than anxious. "Are you all right?"

"Let me wait until it passes," she said through gritted teeth, clutching at his shoulder with both hands as though she could barely stand. "If I move I'll make it worse."

Vegita held her steady until she relaxed a little, and then she looked up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't expect it to hurt this much."

"This isn't going to do," he said with a determined scowl. "We aren't waiting any longer. Come on. I'll fly you there myself." His words were followed by a crash that came from the other side of the house.

"Oh my God!" Bulma gasped. "That sounded like the car!"

A loud string of profanity could be heard from the same area, from a voice that couldn't have been mistaken for any but her father's. Bulma shook her head. "The idiot got overexcited and crashed his car. Maybe it would be better if you did take me there. Let me tell my mom, okay, Vegita?"

Vegita helped Bulma to the house, where her mother was waiting for her, her cheeks an excited pink, and her whole body shaking with glee. "Come on dear; hurry up!" she cried when she saw them. "Your father's disappeared, but I think he's off to get the car. Let's go get him!"

"I think he just crashed it," Bulma sighed. "Here. Take my capsule case and please drive him to the hospital for me, since I don't think he's in any condition to drive. Vegita's going to take me. He can get me there faster anyway."

Mrs. Briefs looked up at Vegita and smiled broadly. "That's an excellent idea!" she cried, smiling brilliantly at him. "There isn't anyone I could trust this to more!"

Bulma kissed her mother goodbye, and then Vegita gently lifted her into his arms and took to the sky with her. Within seconds they had left the compound far behind them.

"I think Mom's right," Bulma said with a strained grin. "I couldn't be in safer hands, could I?"

"Hmph," Vegita grunted, looking characteristically indifferent. "At least I can get you there quickly and without the danger of being blown to bits in one of your father's little death-traps," he grumbled.

Bulma laughed weakly, but it was cut short by another, even sharper stab of pain. She lowered her head and her face paled, and Vegita looked anxiously at her.

"Vegita, I don't know for sure, but I think something's wrong," she said, her voice sounding very labored. "I don't think it's supposed to hurt this much."

"Why do you say that?" He asked nervously, noticing the ashen color her face had turned.

"Because this… ngh!" she cried through gritted teeth. "This is an unbearably high level of pain, even for me! Labor pains should at least be less than what you used to give me in the gravity room on a normal day, but this… ah!" she yelped, clutching his neck tightly and curling up in agony. Terrible, shooting pains were now racing up and down her spine and tearing through her abdominal muscles like a shock wave. "Vegita, this is more than I can bear!" she sobbed. Tears began streaming from the corners of her tightly shut eyes. She was terribly frightened, but it was nothing in comparison to what she was doing to him.

"Don't say that!" he demanded fiercely. "Don't you dare give up on me, do you hear? You are going to fight it, and you are going to win!"

Bulma wanted to smile reassuringly at him, but she could produce no more than a grimace. The pain hadn't subsided like it had before. It felt more like it was getting stronger. "I'm sorry, Vegita," she said, shutting her eyes again and balling her hands into tight fists. "I'm not saying I'm ready to admit defeat. It's just that it hurts so much!"

Vegita didn't want to admit it, but he believed her when she said she thought something was wrong. Her body temperature had already begun to drop, and he could feel her heartbeat slowing. She was beginning to go into shock.

"Come on, woman; you're stronger than this!" he barked at her, his flight speed increasing dramatically. "Don't give up! Dammit, you can call the brat whatever you like when it's over! Just fight back!"

Bulma forced her eyes open, and she raised a trembling hand up to his cheek. "I love you so much," she said shakily. After she let out a final gasp of pain, he felt her body go limp. She had slipped into unconsciousness.

Vegita was flying at top speed now. "Bulma!" he roared. "Bulma, wake up! Don't you dare turn coward now!"

It was no use. She didn't even stir. "Damn!" he said fiercely through gritted teeth. At that moment, Vegita knew that it was all up to him. She needed medical attention, and fast. He flew so quickly that his chi aura ripped through the air and broke the sound barrier by a great many orders of magnitude – so much so that all who had been nearby thought they had heard the blood-curdling roar of some kind of demon. His frenzy paid off, however, because in less than a minute he had reached the hospital.

No one had ever accused Vegita of having an inordinately high degree of people skills, and none of the people who saw him when he burst in with Bulma would have volunteered. Naturally he didn't know anything about checking a person into the hospital, but it was less ignorance than it was panic that caused him to act as he did in trying to get assistance. The first thing he did was corner the first man he saw in a uniform and declare that unless he did something or found somebody to help his wife, he could consider himself a dead man. Little did Vegita know that he had just cornered a janitor, who promptly ran from him, yelling in fright. A nurse approached Vegita then and asked him what all the commotion was about.

"What do you think is wrong, you little fool?!" he bellowed at her. "Look at my wife! She's about to have a baby, and she's completely unconscious! Even an idiot like you should see that! I demand that you imbeciles give her the attention she needs right now, or all of you will die!" he yelled at everyone in the room.

"Calm down, young man," came a clear, stern voice from the other end of the room. Vegita spun around to see the elderly, bearded doctor who had, unbeknownst to him, treated his wounds from the gravity room fiasco. "That's Bulma Briefs you're carrying, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Vegita cried, leaping the entire length of the room in a single bound and landing in front of the doctor. "If you don't do something for her right now, I'll…"

"Be quiet," the doctor said in a cold, stern voice. "Save your threats for when we have time to hear them. I can tell just by looking at her that she's in serious trouble. Nurse Kim," he called to the lady nurse who had approached Vegita earlier. "Call the delivery room and tell them to prepare for an emergency Cesarean. Ms. Briefs will probably need one."

"Right away, doctor," she said, scurrying over to the phone at the receptionist's desk.

"Now then," the doctor said, turning back toward Vegita. "We may not have much time, so I'll explain on the way to the delivery room what we need you to do. Follow me. We won't waste time on a stretcher; you can carry her." He led Vegita through two swinging doors and into a long corridor with elevators at one end. They took one of the elevators up to the third floor, and then the doctor led Vegita to the delivery room, explaining to him that he would have to leave Bulma in their care when they got there, but if he wanted to be present he could indeed do so after he had donned a clean pair of scrubs and a mask. Vegita grit his teeth at being ordered about by a lowly human, but he was well aware that this lowly human was now responsible for Bulma's well-being, so he endured it for her sake.

He laid Bulma on the stretcher they had waiting for her outside the door, and he wasted no words of protest when the nurse blocked his entry as he tried to follow them in. He simply pushed her aside and walked in after them, scowling distrustfully at each face he met along the way.

They had moved Bulma into the center of the room and were in the process of attaching a heart monitor to her and prepping her for the ultrasound when he came in. The doctor left the others to begin and walked over to Vegita.

"Mr. Vegita," he said calmly, his voice no less stern but not as cold as before. "You were told that you must wear the appropriate clothing if you wanted to be in here. We try to keep this room as free from airborne contaminants as we can, and they can indeed come from you. It is in your wife's best interests for you to follow our instructions. Would you please step outside and put on the scrubs and face mask we have set aside for you? It will only take you a few moments, and it really is what is best for Bulma."

Vegita scowled and glared threateningly at him, but the doctor didn't back down. Scowling even more fiercely, Vegita turned and skulked out of the room. The doctor sighed and shook his head. "I wonder what cave she dug this Neanderthal out of," he grumbled, turning back to his task at hand.

Vegita came back a minute or two later to find the doctor and his aides in the middle of an anxious and urgent conversation. "This didn't show up on the last ultrasound, did it, Doctor?" one of them asked him. "This must have happened within the last week."

"I think it was very recent," he said soberly. "She would have come here the very moment it happened. When or why, it doesn't matter. It's happened, so we need to deal with it as quickly as possible. We've no choice but to operate. Bring that table over here. And you," he said, pointing to one of the nurses. "Keep me updated on both their heart rates every fifteen seconds. Do you understand?"

Vegita didn't know what was going on, but he knew what the doctor had meant when he'd said "operate." He grabbed one of the other doctors by the arm as he rushed past and demanded to know what was going on and why they were going to operate on Bulma. The petite man looked anxiously up at the head doctor, who glanced up at them and nodded.

"Take him outside, Nelson," he said, looking back down at what he was doing. "Explain to him what's going on."

"Yes sir," Nelson replied. "Come with me, Mr. Vegita," he said, pulling his arm free and motioning for Vegita to follow him out of the room.

When they had both left the room, Nelson cleared his throat and looked soberly up at Vegita. "Your wife will not be able to deliver this baby on her own," he explained calmly. "There is a good reason why she has lost consciousness. Somehow, a large tear has appeared on one side of her uterus, the region of her body where the baby is currently residing. We aren't sure what's caused the tear, but we do know that the pain must have been excruciating. We'll be able to fix it though," he said quickly, noticing the way Vegita's face had contorted. "We're going to do a Cesarean Section on her, and we'll patch up the tear after that. She should be fine, but it may take her a week or two to recover."

"What is a Cesarean Section?" Vegita asked him, cocking his head to one side to peer into the window on the left door.

"It's a simple operation, really," the doctor explained. "In cases where the mother is unable to deliver the baby, it must be delivered surgically. Bulma hasn't lost a lot of blood, and both she and the baby have healthy heart rates," he said reassuringly. "I'm almost certain that both of them will make it out of this just fine."

"Very well then," Vegita said, nodding at him. "I will come in and watch quietly, but let me warn you, Earthling," he growled threateningly. "If anything happens to her, or to my son, I will personally destroy all of you!"

At first Nelson took a step back in fear, but he had apparently dealt with threats before, because he didn't remain intimidated for long. "Oh honestly," he grumbled, shaking his head and motioning for Vegita to follow him back in. "There's no need to be so dramatic, you know. Trying to convince me you're an alien or something isn't going to make the operation go any more quickly or smoothly."

The operation did go by smoothly, though, and in less than an hour, one of the nurses brought a small but very loud bundle over to Vegita and asked him if he would like to hold his son. Vegita took the squalling package rather awkwardly from the nurse and held him in his arms. The baby screamed no less loudly than it had been up to this point, and a small, brown tail was slowly wiggling its way out of one end of the blanket. He looked down into the bawling face of his child and an odd look of awe fell on his face.

"My… my son," he said, gazing at him in wonder. "My child."

She smiled at Vegita and reached for the baby so that she could take it to the infant ward to be cared for. "Do you know what you will name him?" she asked him as he carefully handed him back to her. "I can fill out the birth certificate for you if you would like to stay here with your wife."

Vegita looked over at Bulma. The doctor and his nurses were still in the process of mending her, but although they shielded her body from his view, her face was unobstructed. It looked very white and drained, but strangely calm and peaceful. He turned back to the nurse.

"Trunks," he said solemnly. "My son's name is Trunks."


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64: An Eventful Homecoming**

Even though the doctor had given Bulma no additional sedatives since the operation, she was out like a light for all the rest of that night and even on into the late hours of the morning. When she did wake up, she had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. Her first thought was that she was dreaming, but when she felt the first sharp sting of pain in her abdomen, she was inclined to think otherwise. Her muscles tensed immediately as all that had happened before she had blacked out came back to her, and with a barely stifled cry of alarm, she abruptly sat upright. That had been a mistake. She felt a terrible pain sear through her middle and her pelvic region, and this time she did cry out, clutching at her stomach in agony. She looked about wildly through blinking eyes as tears began to form in response to the excruciating pain, and she tried frantically to determine where she was. Almost immediately her eyes met Vegita's, and she froze, her brain trying desperately to make sense of her situation.

"I was beginning to wonder if you intended to sleep all day," he said with an annoyed scowl. He was sitting on a chair beside her bed, and although he was scowling as though he resented being there, he looked as though he'd been there for quite some time.

Understandably, Bulma was so confused that at first, she couldn't speak. She threw back the covers and pulled too violently at her hospital smock, tearing it down one side. She gasped when she saw the incision that the doctors had neatly stitched shut, and her hands flew to the spot, as if she refused to believe it was really there unless she could feel it with her fingers.

"What's happened to me? " she cried, beginning to sound more than a little hysterical. "Where did this… this mark… where did it come from? And… and my baby!" she shrieked. "Where's my baby? He's not with me anymore, Vegita! Where is he?"

Vegita stood upright, and in one swift movement, he stepped up alongside the bed and firmly pushed Bulma's head back down onto the pillow. "Lie down," he ordered, drawing the blanket over her again, "or you'll injure yourself. You haven't had time to heal yet."

"Heal?" Bulma cried, her voice rising in pitch. "From what? Please Vegita, tell me what's going on!"

"I intend to," he said sternly, "but you need to keep from jerking yourself around like that. The healing practices on this planet are a joke. Their idea of patching up an open wound is by tying it shut with a piece of string. It's a wonder that your race has survived for so long, considering this is how far your medical knowledge has come."

Bulma's face paled. "How did I get such a wound?" she asked in a frightened voice.

"They had to operate to deliver the baby," he explained with a frown. "You were still unconscious when I got here with you, so you were unable to give birth without those questionable surgeons' idea of help."

Bulma's lips quivered a little as what he said began to finally sink in, and she closed her eyes in shame. "I… I guess I failed then," she said with a shaky laugh. "I couldn't even endure what a normal human woman could endure. I really thought that my tolerance for pain was stronger than that, but it seems I was wrong."

Vegita shook his head and scowled impatiently. "You're being an idiot, as usual," he grumbled at her. He told her about the tear in her uterus, and how they would have had to operate to fix that anyway. He told her that their son was fine, and that she was going to be fine too, provided she didn't do something stupid, such as flailing around like an utter imbecile.

"For once your weak nature wasn't the cause of your problems," he muttered with a somewhat unwilling shrug. "You can forget that nonsense about 'failing.' It was entirely out of your hands, so just shut up about it."

Bulma nodded, and she smiled at him. "Did you get the chance to hold him then?" she asked, beginning to look a great deal more relaxed.

"Yes," he grunted. "They shoved the screaming little brat into my hands before they hauled him off to clean him up."

"So… what do you think of him?" she asked, frowning slightly at his disdainful choice of words.

Vegita smirked. "I can say one thing for certain," he replied. "He most definitely takes after you."

"Why?" she asked him eagerly. "In what way?"

"The brat's already nearly as loud as his mother," he remarked, casually turning slightly to one side.

Vegita dodged just in time to avoid the pillow that she had promptly flung at him. He turned his head back around and grinned at her. "I've always considered it a tragic shame that you can't fight as well as you run your mouth," he added with a sneer.

Bulma grinned back. "I hope he does take after me," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. "I'd hate to have to send our son out into the world with an ugly face like that." She pointed at him for emphasis.

They stared challengingly at one another after that, neither one willing to be the first to break eye contact - and thus admit defeat. Finally though, Bulma just couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and she broke down and laughed at him.

"Aw hell," she chuckled, shaking her head and grinning at him. "Ugly or not, I suppose I am glad you stuck around."

"You'd better be," he snorted, raising his nose derisively. "You owe me big for this, you know. I gave up _my_ training time to be here. I hope you realize that you can expect no mercy from me when you get back."

Bulma laughed and smiled affectionately at him. "Thank you for staying," she said, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly. "It really does mean a lot to me."

A short harrumph was Vegita's only reply. Neither of them had a chance to say anything after that, because at that moment, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs burst into the room, between them carrying both a big basket of flowers and a flurry of balloons.

"Whoops!" Mrs. Briefs cried. "Is she not awake yet, Vegita dear?"

"I'm awake," Bulma said, opening her eyes and smiling at her mother. "Hi, Mom."

"Hooray!" Mrs. Briefs cheered. "Awake at last! Go tell the nurse that Bulma's awake, darling! Tell them to bring Trunks in to see his mama!"

"You've got it!" Dr. Briefs cried, letting go of the balloons and darting out of the room, shooting Bulma a quick grin of merriment on his way out.

"Trunks?" Bulma asked in a bewildered voice. "His name is Trunks?"

"Vegita picked it out," Mrs. Briefs said happily, setting the enormous basket of flowers on Bulma's bedside table and fluffing it up a little. "Isn't it a marvelous name, Bulma?"

Bulma looked up at Vegita in astonishment, but his face was hidden from her, as he had conveniently turned to one side and folded his arms impatiently while Mrs. Briefs had spoken. At first she didn't know what to say. Vegita had willingly chosen the name he'd so resented earlier. Why? Had he done it for her? She really wanted to think so. She smiled at him and turned to look at her mother again.

"Any name that Vegita thinks is good enough for our son is more than good enough for me," she said with a happy smile. "I can only hope that Trunks grows up to be at least half the man his father is."

"Well said, Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried, beaming at Vegita. "You were so very gallant, Vegita! Thanks to you, Bulma's going to be just fine, and I'm finally going to be a grandmother! Whoopee!" she squealed, leaping at Vegita and hugging him ferociously, taking him quite by surprise indeed. "I'm going to go see what's keeping your father and our beautiful new grandson, Bulma dear! Be right back!" She skipped away from Vegita to the door, and while whistling a happy tune, she pranced merrily out into the hallway.

Bulma made the most impressive of efforts not to giggle audibly at Vegita. He was twitching from head to foot, his teeth were grinding impressively, and every part of his face, from his neck all the way up to his forehead, was beet red. That had obviously not been the kind of attention he'd wanted from Bulma's mother!

"From what you've told me, it sounds like I'll be in here for a good week or so," she said, glancing down at the antibiotic IV still attached to he wrist before smiling at him and still doing her best not to laugh. "There's no sense in your having to stay here all that time too. Why don't you go on home? There's no point in both of us missing training, after all."

Vegita frowned a little, but Bulma could easily see that the idea appealed to him. He didn't hesitate long, though. He turned and walked over to Bulma's side before bending over, cradling her cheeks in his hands, and kissing her gently on her forehead. "Don't let them coddle you here for too long," he ordered, walking around the bed and opening the large window overlooking the city. "You have a lot of hard work and catching up to do as soon as you do get back."

"I'll heal fast," she promised, grinning and nodding at him as he stepped out onto the ledge. "Don't worry, Vegita. I'll be back to letting you beat the sass out of me again before you know it!"

Vegita smirked slightly at her and, after closing the window behind him, he leapt up and out of sight, just as an excited Dr. and Mrs. Briefs burst into the room. A nurse followed them in, carrying a small, screaming bundle. Bulma forgot Vegita momentarily then, as the nurse and her parents introduced her to her newborn son, Trunks.

- - - - -

Bulma had to remain in the hospital for a little over a week, but for as far as she was concerned, not a minute of it was wasted time. She cherished every moment she got to spend with her baby, and since the doctor was kind enough to let her set up a little makeshift nursery with a crib there in her room, such moments were more than plentiful. She had reached the conclusion from the very beginning that Trunks was the most beautiful and charming baby she'd ever seen, and she loved every bit of him - from the cute, lavender curl of hair on his forehead, to his adorable little tail. No one would ever have been able to convince her that her baby was anything less than an infant Adonis, and had anyone dared to try, there would have been hell to pay.

Understandably, the hospital staff was a little confused by Trunks' tail, and when a couple of nurses came to show Bulma how to change and feed him, she could see by the way they stared at it that they found it very strange. Bulma wasn't so wrapped up in her blanket of maternal pride that she lost all sense of reality. She had known from the start that such things would be inevitable in Trunks' life, and that he'd simply have to prove to people that there was more to him than a prehensile tail. Fortunately, it turned out that Trunks had no difficulty making friends. The first time he curled that tail of his around one of the nurses' hands as she changed him, he had won her heart immediately, and she promptly declared that he was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. If there had been a measure of the amount of smugness on a person's expression, Bulma would most likely have set a world record.

It didn't seem long at all before a full week had passed, but Bulma was nevertheless beginning to feel a little homesick. She wanted to take Baby Trunks and herself back to the compound and get on with things. She had a rather difficult time of convincing the doctors that she was fit enough to leave, but after a couple more days, she finally succeeded, and the head doctor announced that she could go home at last.

Bulma was expecting to get Trunks and herself settled in right away when she got home. However, as chance would have it, her parents had had other ideas in mind. The morning that her father came to pick Bulma and the baby up to bring them home turned out to be anything but normal.

When she stepped out of the car after they arrived at the compound, Bulma had no idea what was in store for her. When she rounded the corner of the workshop, she stopped short and gasped at what she saw. There in the large, open space between the compound buildings, a fantastic outdoor barbecue had been set up, complete with tables and chairs. There were several banners hanging across lines strung between some of the buildings, and they said, "Welcome Home, Bulma and Trunks!" Even more amazing was who was there to greet them. Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo were there, and so were Chichi and Gyuumao. Yajirobe, Kuririn, Kame-sennin, Oolong, Puar, and Umigame had come too, much to Bulma's delight. The biggest surprise of all was Yamucha, who was there right in the middle of them, laughing and talking with all the rest. Her mother was in the midst of all of them, and she looked very happy indeed. It didn't take Bulma long to decide on a culprit to pin this hoopla on.

They were all talking and laughing noisily when Bulma and her party arrived, but when Gohan first spotted them rounding the corner, he pointed excitedly at them, and at once the whole group began to cheer and applaud. Dr. Briefs led the bewildered Bulma - still carrying a bundled-up baby Trunks in her arms - into their midst, and they immediately began to crowd around her.

"Congratulations!" Goku cried, beaming at her.

"Yeah, way to go, Bulma!" Gohan cried. "How does it feel to be a mama?"

"Wonderful," she said in a rather confused and bewildered voice. Her mind wasn't really registering things as quickly as usual. "How… how did you all find out about this?" she asked, looking around at all the smiling faces surrounding her.

"That was my doing," Mrs. Briefs said, raising her hand and grinning at Bulma as she confirmed her original suspicion. "I told everyone about the new addition to our family, and I invited them all to a homecoming party! This is a time to celebrate, after all!"

Bulma laughed and shook her head. Her mother never was much for keeping these kinds of things to herself, and she loved all kinds of attention. She must have found her new role as grandmother the biggest thing worth celebrating.

"So come on, Bulma!" Chichi said excitedly. "Let's see the little guy!"

Bulma smiled at the eager faces around her and opened the blankets that she'd wrapped around Trunks at the hospital. He blinked a couple of times in the bright sunlight, and then he yawned and wiggled his tail a little. This immediately produced several oohs and ahs from the crowd. Bulma chuckled. Even Yamucha was smiling at the way Trunks was hamming it up.

"He's so adorable!" Chichi cooed. "Just like Gohan was at his age! Oh Bulma, can I hold him? Please?"

"Sure," she replied, smiling and handing him to her. "Watch out for the tail, though. I swear that thing has a mind of its own sometimes!"

Chichi laughed as she took him from Bulma. "Don't I know it!" she chuckled. "I learned in a hurry that I had to steer clear of counters and shelves when I was holding Gohan! He'd grab anything he saw with that little tail of his!"

"I think I'd better keep that in mind too then," Bulma laughed, grinning at Gohan, whose face had turned quite red by now.

"He's the spitting image of his father," Goku commented, tickling Trunks' chin, which elicited a gurgling kind of squeal from him.

"I hafta disagree," Oolong said with a grin. "He's nothing like him, and that's a good thing. Who'd have thought Vegita's kid would turn out to be such a cute little tyke?"

Bulma shot him a sly grin. "Don't let Vegita hear you say that," she warned him. "I might be able to get away with saying a thing like that, but if he hears you badmouthing him or his son you can only expect the worst."

Oolong became very pale very quickly. "Hey, you know I didn't mean it, right, Bulma?" he laughed nervously, his voice squeaking a little. "You… heh-heh… you don't have to pass that along to Vegita or anything, you know."

"Okay," she said, keeping her smile as low-key as she could.

"Here," Mrs. Briefs said, taking Trunks back when he began to get a little fussy. "I'll go ahead and take him inside. You guys can go ahead and start eating," she said cheerfully. "I just turned off the grill!"

As everyone headed for the table where Mrs. Briefs had piled up all the food, Bulma pulled her mother aside and asked her where Vegita was. "Does he know what's going on out here?" she asked her.

"I told him that I had invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate your and baby Trunks' homecoming, but he didn't seem all that interested in joining the fun, even after I told him about all the food I was making," she laughed in reply. "He really does seem focused on his training today, dear!"

Bulma grinned, but she had a feeling that his training wasn't the only thing keeping him holed up in the gravity room. The prospect of spending quality time with Goku and the rest of her friends definitely wouldn't have appealed to the antisocial Saiyan.

Everyone helped himself to a scrumptious assortment of grilled seafoods, meats, and veggies, as well as a multitude of side dishes both purchased and prepared in advance, and pretty soon they were all at the tables, eating and talking up a storm. It seemed that they all had a lot of catching up to do. Some of these people Bulma hadn't seen in over a year, after all.

"So how was the delivery, Bulma?" Chichi asked her after a little while. "I remember that mine wasn't really all that bad. We didn't have any doctors out where we live, but Dad knew a midwife that was able to come help with the delivery. I suppose yours went really well?"

Bulma flushed a little and looked back down at her plate in embarrassment. Apparently her mother must have left that part of the story out. "There were… complications," she admitted. "I guess Mom didn't tell you about that. Er… Vegita had to fly me to the hospital, and I kind of… passed out on the way there. It was terrible pain - worse than anything I can ever remember feeling. If it hadn't been for Vegita, little Trunks and I might have been in bad shape. In fact, I'm still pretty stiff and sore from the surgery," she laughed, trying to sound as casual as possible. "I'll bet that Vegita's really going to have fun trying to come up with a training regimen for me while I'm healing. Up until now, the worst he's had to deal with from me is bruises and bumps."

The expressions on the faces around the table changed dramatically. Goku leaned forward past everyone else to look more closely at her. "Really?" he asked. "It was that bad?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing I won't be able to work out," she said quickly, waving it away. "I have a feeling that with all the injuries he must have sustained in Freeza's service, Vegita knows some helpful tips to getting back into shape while having to deal with minor injuries. It's nothing worth getting worked up over, I'm sure!"

"Ah, that reminds me," Yajirobe said, stuffing an entire grilled squid into his mouth and chewing it in a very visible, disgusting way. It reminded Bulma of how unpleasant it was to watch him eat. "Here," he said, swallowing most of it and fishing a Sensu bean out of his pocket. He tossed it to her and she caught it in her left hand. She looked down at it and gasped in surprise.

"A Sensu bean!" she gasped. "You mean, Karin…?"

"Yeah, he said that it'd help you heal soon so that you could pick up on your training right away," Yajirobe replied, stuffing some more seafood into his mouth and waving at her dismissively. "He said he couldn't justify giving Vegita one for what he did without giving you one for this. Especially," he added with a grin, "since your injuries weren't your own fault, like Vegita's were his. He did tell me to remind you about that bit about them growing on trees…"

"…But not being easy to come by," Bulma finished for him, grinning back. "You can tell him I said thanks a lot, and that I'll remember it!" she said with a happy thumbs-up. Yajirobe just nodded and resumed stuffing his face. All at once she didn't care as much about Yajirobe's disgusting eating habits. He was a welcome guest to her party.

Bulma popped the bean into her mouth and began chomping happily. "Heh heh heh!" she chuckled with a devious grin. She leapt up into the air and fired off a barrage of somersaults coupled with dagger kicks and jabs in all directions. In the blink of an eye she had shot back to the ground, her face alight with glee.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that!" she laughed, shaking her head at all the looks of surprise that were now pointed in her direction.

Everybody laughed, with Goku laughing loudest of all. "D'you suppose having a baby has slowed you down much, Bulma?" he asked her with an obnoxious grin.

Bulma grinned back. "Oh, I wouldn't say that," she said with a cocky jerk of her nose. "Not with all the extra training I laid in during the past nine months. Pregnancy didn't leave me idle, Goku."

Goku laughed, and he pointed at her as he turned back to the others. "Now who does she remind you of?" he asked, laughing again.

"Vegita!" Kuririn laughed. "Definitely!"

"Oh yeah!" Gohan cried. "She sure does, doesn't she?"

"Wow! It's uncanny, Bulma," Yamucha said, grinning at her mischievously. "What an impression!"

"Aw, shut up you guys," Bulma laughed. "You're not taking me seriously! Well then how about a match, Goku? Care to see just how much I've let myself go? I warn you; I'm not the same person I was a year ago."

Goku grinned and nodded. "All right Bulma," he said, standing up and stretching a bit. "I suppose a quick sparring match couldn't hurt."

"Aw, here he goes!" Chichi grumbled, rolling her eyes to the sky. "Goku-sa! Why the heck do you always have to turn civilized get-togethers into uncivilized brawls?"

Bulma grinned apologetically at Chichi. "Just one sparring match," she pleaded, holding her hands up to show her sincerity. "We aren't going to do any brawling, Chichi."

"Ah…" Chichi groaned in disgust, dismissively waving them away. "I should have known it would be inevitable. Go ahead. Who am I to stand in the way of bone-headed aggression, after all?"

"That's the sport, Chichi!" Kuririn laughed, patting her on the back. She immediately sent him such a hateful look then that he promptly backed away from her, laughing nervously and holding his hands up in his defense.

Bulma grinned and shook her head. "Oh well," she chuckled. "Come on, Goku. Let's take this out into the open space between the gravity rooms. We should have enough room there."

She and Goku walked over to the place she had referred to, with a large band of interested onlookers following close behind. Even Chichi - grumbling something unintelligible under her breath - joined the others to follow and watch.

"I wish Vegita was out here," Bulma thought wistfully to herself as she and Goku took their positions. "I know he'd get a kick out of this." Now that they were so close to the gravity rooms, Bulma could clearly sense him working fiercely in there. She smiled. He wasn't much for crowds anyway, and given who was present in this one, he probably wouldn't even emerge from that little room until they'd all gone home. She hoped she'd have an exciting story to tell him about her little bout with Goku when he _did_ come out!

"Are you ready, Bulma?" Goku asked, bringing her back from her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm ready," she replied, tensing a little. "Come at me any way you like." Upon finishing those words, she immediately slowed time.

"Poor, unsuspecting Goku," she thought with a slight grin as he shot forward at a laughably slow pace. "He thinks he's humoring me. It won't take him long to realize he'll have to be more serious than this."

When Goku reached Bulma, he threw several easy punches and kicks at her, which she dodged with only minimal effort. She smiled politely at him and easily dodged his every strike as he increased his speed and strength. Suddenly, while he was in the middle of a punch, she ducked and gave him a fierce jab to his lower abdomen.

She could hear his grunt of pain and surprise very clearly, although it sounded rather strange - slowed down as it was. She didn't give him a chance to react to her little maneuver, though. Instead, she hurled a flurry of punches, slaps, and kicks at him, dodging this way and that so as to add to his confusion. She never stayed in one place - the more she moved around, the harder it was for him to block her blows, and the easier it was for her to disorient him.

Bulma was having the time of her life, and her elated, beaming face was enough to prove it. She had caught Goku off guard so terrifically that nearly all of her blows thus far had connected. She knew that she wasn't dealing him much damage, but that was okay, considering the fact that she really hadn't intended to. The look of pure astonishment on his face was more than enough of a reward for her actions.

Bulma was very much absorbed in what she was doing, so she was unable to see the others and their reactions to her new strength and speed. That was indeed quite a shame, because the look of surprise on Goku's face was nothing compared to the slack-jawed, bug-eyed looks of pure disbelief on the faces of her audience.

"C-can you _see_ her, Piccolo-san?" Gohan asked in an awed, quiet voice.

"Not consistently," Piccolo admitted, his eyes as wide as they could go, "and neither can your father. How the hell did she get so fast?"

"This is unreal," Yamucha said, gaping at Goku, who appeared to him to be in the midst of an attack from a thousand invisible foes all at once. "This must mean that Vegita's way beyond Goku now. Bulma's only human. If he could get _her_ this far this fast, just imagine what he's been able to accomplish with himself!"

Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Kame-sennin nodded in agreement as they gaped at Goku, all the while trying to pick Bulma out with their eyes. It was no use, though. She was moving so quickly that they just couldn't see her, and Piccolo had been right. Neither could Goku - who was now beginning to get more than just a little frustrated. He was finding it impossible to defend himself from her onslaught, and although she wasn't causing him any intolerable pain, it was just enough frustration to make him react in the only way he knew how to gain the speed he'd need to break away from her. He gave a loud yell, and his chi flared golden yellow as he went Super Saiyan.

Now it was Bulma's turn to be caught off guard. In her surprise, she let time slip back into its normal speed, and she paused to stare in disbelief at Goku. Suddenly she had become visible to everyone - including him. Gritting his teeth in concentration, Goku smacked her on the side of the face (with more than just a little too much force). She spun thirteen complete turns as she sailed backward, and she landed on her side just a little over twenty feet away from him. She slid a couple more feet before finally coming to a painful halt on her back.

Within the span of only a second, a tremendous amount of activity took place. At first, Goku didn't realize how much his tap had accomplished, but before he could find out, he was knocked another ten feet away from Bulma, thanks to a violent, sideways blow to his face. As he did a quick somersault to regain his balance and land on his feet, he looked up to see someone blocking his path to Bulma.

"Vegita?" he gasped in surprise, his hair changing back to its normal color as he stared down at Vegita, who had apparently just appeared out of nowhere. "What are you doing here?"

Groaning in pain, Bulma rubbed her face where Goku had hit her, and she sat up, shaking her head rather dizzily. "That's going to leave a bruise," she thought, shaking her head in an attempt to ward off the disorienting wooziness. She looked up and saw with surprise that Vegita was standing there in front of her, facing off against Goku.

"I should ask the same of you," he spat in a hissing, furious voice at Goku, his hair bristling with suppressed rage. "You infernal coward! Is this your idea of sport?! My woman leaves that crude healing facility only today, and you dare strike her to the ground, you dimwitted bastard? If you're so willing to die, I swear that by the seven hells, I _will_ accommodate you!"

Vegita was seething with rage, but he resisted the urge to fly at Goku immediately. He wanted to give him a chance to make a fool of himself by babbling some kind of feeble excuse. The more he could humiliate him before thrashing him, the more satisfying it would be when he destroyed him.

"Vegita, this was my idea," Bulma said before Goku could answer. "I challenged him to a sparring match. I was doing pretty well too," she laughed, getting up and dusting herself off, "until he went Super and surprised me, that is." She laughed sheepishly and grinned at Goku.

"You think that _excuses_ what he did to you?!" Vegita snapped back at her, without removing his smoldering gaze from Goku for even a second. "The bastard nearly snapped your neck! This… this piece of filth has no business laying a hand on you at all, but to accept a challenge from you, knowing damn well that you haven't fully recovered… I will not tolerate it!" he growled, grinding his teeth ferociously and balling his fists as his chi intensity began to rise dramatically.

Bulma could see then that she was going to have to do something to calm Vegita down, and she was going to have to do it quickly. Otherwise, there was going to be no stopping him from flying at Goku in an uncontrollable rage.

"But Vegita, I've been healed already," she said soothingly, gently resting a hand on his right shoulder as she walked up alongside him. "Karin sent me a Sensu bean. I slowed time when I fought Goku, and I had him pegged down so well that he had no alternative but to go Super Saiyan just to fend me off. He certainly didn't mean to hit me so hard. It was entirely my fault; not his. Besides, it wasn't as bad as it looked. At the very worst, I'll have a bruise to remind me of it for a few days," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

Vegita ground his teeth furiously, and although his eyes darted briefly over towards Bulma, he didn't relax a muscle. "Kakarrot, I will never forgive this," he said, his eyes glittering with rage. "For now, I'll leave this matter unsettled, but I warn you; at the very moment that we've disposed of those robotic junk piles of Gero's, I am going to make you pay dearly for what you've done today. A simple death is no longer sufficient for the likes of you!"

"Vegita!" Bulma snapped, planting her fists on her hips and glaring at him. "That's enough!"

Growling angrily, Vegita turned to stomp back to his gravity room, but he grabbed Bulma by the arm as he did. "You come with me," he said coldly, jerking her along behind him.

"Ow! Hey, stop it!" she yelled, trying to pull free of him. "Let me go, Vegita!" His grip was unbreakable, however, and she had no choice but to be led along behind him. She only had time to shoot their surprised audience a quick, embarrassed glance before Vegita dragged her through the open door of his gravity room and slammed it shut behind them.

Once inside the gravity room, Vegita loosened his hold on Bulma's arm, and she immediately wrenched it out of his hand. "How dare you embarrass me like that?" she yelled furiously. "How am I supposed to explain this to everybody?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Vegita thundered at her, bristling in anger. "Just what possessed you to pull such an asinine stunt?"

"What's got your leggings in a twist?" Bulma snapped. "What stunt? I didn't do anything!"

"Just what made you think you were ready to fight Kakarrot, you little fool?" Vegita growled. "You've been virtually inactive for the past month, and to top it off, you just had your own gut sliced open by a bunch of quack surgeons! This is not what I'm training you for, and you know it!"

Bulma groaned and flung her hands up in the air. "I told you already, Karin sent me a Sensu bean," she snapped impatiently, "and I haven't lost a bit of my strength, all right? You should have seen me out there! Until Goku transformed, he never even saw what hit him!"

"All I saw," Vegita said in a dangerously low, angry voice, "was that fool Kakarrot, in Super Saiyan form, strike _my_ woman across her face. That is not something I intend to tolerate, and you had no business putting yourself in such a position in the first place."

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Bulma snapped, planting her hands on her hips and glaring fiercely at him. "Are you saying that you forbid me from having friendly sparring matches with Goku?"

Vegita matched her glare with his own. "You should know better than to challenge someone like Kakarrot," he replied coldly, folding his arms. "I shouldn't have to tell you that I disapprove of it. I _will_ tell you now that I won't allow it again, either. I'd better not see you taking such risks with those idiot friends of yours again - especially Kakarrot," he added emphatically, glaring sternly at her. "He is my sworn enemy, and I forbid you from allowing him to take advantage of your weakness just to get at me. Honestly woman, why do you have to be such a fool?"

Bulma's eyes flashed furiously, and she balled her fists in indignant anger. "It was nothing but a friendly sparring match," she repeated. "Nothing more than that, do you understand? Goku had no intention of hurting me, and had you waited a few moments longer, you might have seen that for yourself, but that's not the issue here. I don't disapprove of your wanting to protect me from harm, but you have _no_ right to tell me who I can and can't spar with! I'm not about to allow you to choose my friends for me, either. You may find this hard to believe, but I have a mind of my own, Vegita. I will spar whenever and with whomever I like, and if you disapprove, you can just go suck a lemon!" Before he could say another word, she spun on her heel and marched over to the door, kicking it open.

"Now that I'm at full health again," she said curtly, flashing her eyes angrily back at him, "I'll continue my training with you, starting tomorrow. If you have anything to say to me before then, you can speak to me at dinner tonight, but for now," she added, turning back around, "I have to go apologize to everyone for the hotheaded way _you_ behaved!" Slamming the door behind her, she stomped away to rejoin the others, who were talking and mulling around quietly where she and Vegita had left them.

Bulma grimaced as she looked at the edgy group. She was terribly embarrassed, and she hated apologizing, even if it wasn't for her own actions. It didn't help that she really couldn't blame Vegita all that much for acting as he had, considering the fact that trust wasn't really one of his defining characteristics, and that he probably truly believed that Goku was the kind of despicable character who would attack her just to get to him. In that respect, her angry words with him hadn't been very fair, but her pride had suffered a powerful blow, because she'd known that no matter how she and Vegita resolved things between each other, she'd still have to apologize to her friends for the threatening way he'd spoken to Goku. Because of this, she'd lashed out at Vegita, and although she was still pretty hot about the whole ordeal, she knew that she'd probably regret it.

"Bulma!" Goku cried when he saw her coming. "Bulma, are you okay?" He ran up to meet her, and the others followed closely behind.

"I'm fine," she said, raising a hand to silence him and shaking her head with an unhappy frown. "I want to apologize for the way Vegita acted. He only got so angry because he thought you were trying to hurt me. I'm sorry Goku, but I think he really means what he says, and that he really does intend to kill you, even more than he did before. Nothing I say to him is making much difference. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Aw, his threats never bothered me all that much," Goku laughed good-naturedly. "He's been mad at me ever since I first beat 'im and Nappa, but this is the first time I think he was right to be steamed. Are you gonna be okay?" he asked her with genuine concern on his face.

"I'll be fine," Bulma said, waving it away and smiling at him. "In a day or so I won't even feel it anymore."

"Just the same," Goku said, looking relieved. "I shouldn't have hit you so hard. I'm really the one who ought to apologize."

"Man, that Vegita sure is one unpredictable guy," Kuririn remarked. "I saw him poke his head out the gravity room door just as Goku belted you, Bulma, and then _bam_! He was right there! He was ready to kill, wasn't he?" he asked Bulma, frowning anxiously.

"Yes, he was," Bulma sighed, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. "Vegita's belligerent and possessive, but he's also really protective of me. Outside of our training in the gravity room, he's never lifted so much as a finger to me, and I guess now I know how he'd react if he saw someone else do it." She looked back up at Goku and sighed dejectedly. "I know Vegita has no great love for you, Goku, but please understand that he said those words only in response to what he saw you do to me. Try not to think any less of him for it. It's really all my fault. It never occurred to me that something like this would happen."

"Now do you two see why brawling like morons is such a bad idea?" Chichi snapped hotly. "Nothing good came out of this, and if anything, Goku's gone and made himself unwelcome here, and me by association. I hope you're proud of yourself, Goku-sa! Before long we won't get invited anywhere!"

Goku laughed and shook his head before Bulma had a chance to protest. "There's no need to apologize, Bulma," he chuckled, ignoring Chichi's angry words as he curled an arm around her shoulder and pulled her up alongside him. "I think Vegita did exactly what I'dve done if someone'd hit Chichi like that. The only way I'd think less of 'im is if he saw it and didn't care. A man who has no interest in protecting his family from harm has no right to one at all. Besides," he added, looking down and grinning at the way Chichi had turned a trifle pink, "it's like I said before: his threats don't bother me. I have a feeling that one day, we'll hafta fight to settle them, but right now he has a point; it won't do to worry about that just yet. There's more important things to worry about than settling old grudges between me an' Vegita."

Bulma smiled and shook her head. Sometimes Goku surprised her by saying such intelligent, insightful things. Still, she was disinclined to agree that Vegita had let Goku off with a warning today simply because he'd thought focusing on the future battle with the Jinzouningen was more important than settling his grudge with his greatest enemy. She knew better than that. Oh well. She knew she shouldn't worry about it either. Some things were just best left as they were.

"Oh well," she sighed, laughing and shaking her head as they began walking back to the tables and what remained of their party. "I suppose that you shouldn't feel too threatened by Vegita anyway. I mean, he'd probably get angry with me for telling you this, but in reality he hasn't even reached Super Saiyan level yet, and I'd wager that you wouldn't have any real trouble beating him... at least until he does, anyway."

They both laughed at that, and so did Kuririn and Gohan, but Piccolo did not. He seemed more confused than anything else.

"Wait a minute, Briefs," he said, stopping Bulma and looking her dead in the eyes. "If that's the case, then what did we just see? Does that mean that you have surpassed Vegita?"

All at once the others caught Piccolo's drift, and they all listened eagerly for Bulma's response. Bulma looked back at Piccolo with a very surprised and bewildered expression, and at first she seemed too flabbergasted to speak.

"Me?" she asked incredulously, pointing to herself. Piccolo nodded. "Well, of course not!" she cried, laughing at him and shaking her head. "Just what are you getting at, Piccolo? It isn't like you to joke around! Don't tell me that Goku and Gohan have somehow managed to give you a sense of humor!"

"But Bulma, you were incredible!" Kuririn cried. "You were all over Goku!"

"Yeah!" Gohan cried. "It was unreal!"

"They're right," Yamucha agreed, nodding his head emphatically. "I _would_ say that you were a sight to see, Bulma, but I can't because we couldn't even see you!"

"Neither could I," Goku agreed. "That's why I went Super Saiyan. It was the only thing I could do to get you off of me!"

"Well, I owe the speed to some new powers I've acquired," she said, shrugging modestly. "Let's sit down and finish eating. I'll tell you all about it, but it's a bit of a long story."

So she did. She gave them a brief but accurate account of her meeting with Chronos. She told them about Victor, about the book, and she even told them about how angry Vegita had been when she'd told _him_ about it. She told them nearly everything. The only thing she left out was the bit about her losing her abilities if she ever decided to reverse the flow of time. She figured that it didn't really matter, considering the fact that there was no way she would ever do that!

"It's very strange, Bulma," Gohan said, thinking aloud when she had finished. "I mean, I've never heard of a god of time before. The Greeks told in their mythology of a god with that name, but he wasn't the god of time, per se. The Greek Chronos was the father of all the other major gods and goddesses that they worshipped, but I don't think he was ever connected to time itself."

"Kaio never mentioned 'im to me," Goku said thoughtfully, "and neither did Kami either."

"It's likely that Kaio-sama didn't even know of Him," Bulma remarked, shrugging indecisively. "From what I gathered, only Toki-jin ever get to learn of His existence directly, and if Kaio-sama isn't a Toki-jin, then he probably doesn't know, even if he is immortal. Kami-sama though," she added, raising an index finger, "is a Toki-jin, and he _does_ know Chronos. Chronos told me so Himself."

"What power does Kami-sama have over time?" Gohan asked.

"He can see the future," Piccolo answered, before Bulma could. "I never did like that about him."

"That's right," Bulma agreed. "There's one other person on this planet with that ability, and she's also a Toki-jin. That would be the Turtle Hermit's sister, Baba."

"Really?" Muten Roshi asked with a curious arch of his brow. "Sis never mentioned anything to me about a god of time. Does she know about this Chronos too?"

"He said she does, but that she didn't like what was going to happen to her if she visited Him," Bulma explained. "I'd like to ask her just what she saw, but maybe it'd be too personal a question. Anyway, we three are the only Toki-jin on the planet as of right now, but sometime in the future, there's going to be another one. Chronos told me that the woman who made that time machine the kid from the future used was a Toki-jin too. I wonder if we know her? He wouldn't tell me who she is."

Piccolo and Goku exchanged looks. "Well, at least you've got a new bag of tricks to keep your enemies on their toes," Goku said, grinning brightly at her. "You don't seem all depressed like you were all that time ago when you came to visit us. I'll bet you're not as worried as you were then, either."

"Maybe not," Bulma said with a shrug. "With all my newfound knowledge, slowing the flow of time turned out to be child's play, and I have other techniques in the works too," she added, taking a sip of tea. "Vegita and I have been working on them for a good while now. By the time the Jinzouningen arrive, I may very well be able to keep myself from getting killed!"

"That's great!" Goku exclaimed, beaming happily at her. "I'm glad to hear it. At least we know you'll be prepared in a year's time!"

"I'd like to think I will be," she said with a nod. "With Vegita helping me, I know I've got the best shot I can get, anyway."

Everybody stayed for a good two and a half hours more to talk and snack on what was left of the lunch. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Eventually, everybody had to leave, and as it turned out, the group from the Kame House was the last to go. Bulma insisted that they pack up what was left of the food and take it with them, much to the delight of Oolong and Kame-sennin, who were neither one a very good cook. As they all piled into Roshi's capsule van, Yamucha held back.

"You guys go on ahead," he said, waving them on. "I'll fly back. I can use the exercise." They took off without him, leaving him there alone with Bulma.

She smiled at him. "I'm really glad you came, Yamucha," she said warmly. "It wouldn't have been the same if you hadn't been here too."

Yamucha smiled back and nodded. "You wanna go for a walk?" he asked, gesturing to the path that wound itself throughout the compound. "I'd like the chance to talk with you, if that's all right."

"Sure," she said with another warm smile. "I'd really like that."

They walked in silence for a while, but it wasn't an awkward silence. The truth was that each of them had missed the other quite a bit, and for a while, simply enjoying each other's company was all they needed to feel at ease. Eventually, Yamucha broke the silence and began to speak.

"I'm glad I came too, Bulma," he said at last. "The truth is that I really wanted to see you again. I've been thinking a lot about you, and about Vegita. I realized that it just might have been possible that I had slightly misjudged him. Now, I'm not going to say that you always make perfect decisions, Bulma," he said with an apologetic smile, "but usually your judgment is pretty sound. I figured that maybe the fact that you chose Vegita meant that I was somehow missing an important piece of the big picture about him. Maybe it was possible that I... well, that maybe I just…" he faltered, hesitating a little as though what he was trying to say was very difficult.

Bulma looked up at him and smiled. "You don't have to beat around the bush," she said with an understanding nod. "Just go ahead and say what you mean to, Yamucha. If it pains you to say it, it's best to just get it over with."

Yamucha sighed and smiled back. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "Okay then. What I'm trying to say is this: I don't like Vegita, and I probably never will, but if being with him makes you happy, then I'm willing to deal with it and move on. I love you, Bulma, and your happiness means a lot to me, even if it lies in the arms of another man. I'm not saying I'm happy with it, or even necessarily that I'm ready to accept it yet; I'm just saying that I'll try my best to live with it, and that I don't want to avoid you anymore. I still want to be something to you, even if it's just a casual friend."

Bulma looked like she was about to cry. "You'll always be something to me, Yamucha," she said in a choked voice. "Always. I'm so incredibly happy that you feel this way. Geez... look at me! I'm getting all choked up about it," she laughed with a self-conscious giggle.

"I'm not quite through yet," he said, smiling a little more broadly. "I mentioned that perhaps I wasn't getting the big picture about Vegita. I've had some time to think things over, and I've concluded that you were right, and that there is some side of him that I never get to see. I mean, you wouldn't have fallen for the man if he was just the jerk I know. I'm sure of that. At any rate, I think I got to witness a glimpse of that other side of him today. When I think back to the look of hatred I saw in his eyes when he shielded you from Goku, I know that nothing but a concern for your safety would have caused him to do that. He wouldn't take on someone like Goku - at least now - when he's not strong enough to beat him yet. Goku's not very high on Vegita's good list, but it makes sense that he wouldn't just fly at him like that without a very good reason. I'm beginning to understand now that maybe… just maybe… Vegita actually _can_ care for someone other than himself."

"You're right, you know," Bulma said, smiling happily. "Vegita loves me, and he loves his son too. I've no doubt in my mind that he would fight to the death to protect us, if fate called for it. I also know that I would do the same thing for him and Trunks, and besides," she said, sighing and shaking her head, "he's told me himself that the sole purpose for his training me is so that, in the fight to come, I'll be able to defend myself enough to keep from getting killed. He'll protect me all right, but he also wants me to be able to protect myself."

"I'm beginning to see that at last," Yamucha said, looking up at the sky and smiling. "I suppose it's just as well, though. He would better be able to protect you and Trunks than I would. Oh, and about Trunks," he said, grinning again. "I knew you had to be serious when I found out that you two had a baby. I honestly didn't know what I'd think of him, considering who his father was, but you know what? I think he's the cutest kid I've ever seen."

"I'm really glad you think so," Bulma said, smiling at him, "because I have a favor I've wanted to ask of you."

"A favor?" Yamucha asked curiously. "What favor?"

"Would you be his godfather?" she replied. "I knew I wanted that from the very beginning, but I didn't know how I'd get you to do it. You can only imagine my relief right now; yesterday I would have thought you wouldn't even come here, much less agree to be the godfather of my and Vegita's child."

Yamucha grinned from ear to ear. "Bulma, it would be an honor to be Trunks' godfather," he replied, "and I accept wholeheartedly. I daresay that if something ever happens to both you and Vegita, I'll probably have been long gone by then, though."

They both laughed then, and a few minutes later they found themselves back at the place where they had started. Bulma gave Yamucha a warm hug as she said goodbye, and after laughing a little uncomfortably and bidding her goodbye as well, he took off for the Kame House. Bulma smiled as she watched him go. She felt the strangest sense of completeness just now; it was as if all the pieces in her puzzle of a life had finally been put in order, and she wondered just how long it would last. She hoped it would remain that way for a long time. She hadn't felt this contented in quite a while.


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65: Returning to Space**

It was no surprise to Bulma that Vegita didn't have much to say at dinner that night. In all honesty though, she was still too angry to say anything civil to him anyway. They both ate their dinner in silence, much to the discomfort of Bulma's parents. Vegita finished first, and he left without so much as excusing himself. Then Bulma finished, and she curtly bid her parents an early good night, informing them that she was going out for a late night flight, and wouldn't be back until much later, at which time she was going to go to bed.

"I have to get up early in the morning too," she said as she got up to leave. "I'll be picking up my training with Vegita in the gravity room tomorrow, and I'll want to go to bed soon. Do me a favor and keep an eye on Trunks for me, okay? I've got my phone with me; call me if he needs me."

"Okay, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said, nodding at her. "We will. See you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," she said, stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

Thankfully, Bulma's quiet flight did help to cool her down, and it offered her time to do some calm, reflective thinking. She understood why Vegita was so angry, but at the same time, she didn't believe that she was in the wrong, either. Although she had told herself a long time ago that she would do her best not to try to change Vegita, she couldn't help feeling that he would just have to learn to deal with the fact that she was a woman with a mind of her own. He couldn't just hand down edicts to her and expect her to follow them blindly, and she wasn't about to let him control her life like some kind of possessive jerk. She didn't want to just stamp out his drive to protect her from harm, but she wanted him to trust her, and to understand that she wasn't going to take unnecessary risks. She didn't think that was an unreasonable thing to ask of him.

Vegita was a bit hardheaded, but maybe she could find a way to make him see things from her point of view. She rolled her eyes as she realized that she couldn't leave things as they were; she was going to have to talk to him about it tomorrow. She couldn't count on his making the first move towards resolving this little spat, and she didn't want to stay mad at him, ideal as that had seemed an hour or two ago. Oh well. It was going to work out somehow. She'd make it work, whether Vegita wanted her to or not!

- - - - -

The next morning, Bulma got up bright and early so that she could make a nice breakfast for her parents and herself. Also, she had planned on the fact that the extra time would give her a chance to come up with the right approach to use when she talked to Vegita. After serving breakfast to her parents and spending a little fun time with Trunks, she finally left for the gravity room. She had decided to just be as straightforward about this as possible. There was really no point in beating around the bush - not with Vegita. She found the door to the gravity room unlocked when she arrived, so she just walked in.

Vegita was there, and he was in his usual place, leaning up against the gravity machine, arms crossed, and staring at the door so that he could look her dead in the eyes when she walked in. Bulma's gaze met his as she walked in and shut the door behind her, and she smiled, despite herself. She had missed this.

"Vegita, I wanted to talk to you before we begin," she said, stepping forward a little and crossing her arms. "I want to talk to you about yesterday."

Vegita closed his eyes and frowned slightly, but he nodded as if he had expected this. "I'm listening," he said quietly.

Bulma nodded back. "Look, I said some things yesterday that were probably kind of harsh and unnecessary," she admitted, frowning slightly as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. "Just the same, the meaning behind them hasn't changed for me, and I don't think that any of what I did with my friends was wrong. Goku and I have been friends for many years, Vegita, and he's saved my skin more times than I'd care to count. He doesn't have any intention of harming me, and I can say with all certainty that he never will. He doesn't have a resentful bone in his body when it comes to me, and as surprising as it sounds, he doesn't have any for you either. He knows that someday you two are probably going to wind up fighting to resolve whatever differences you have, but he doesn't let that get in the way of his life. He's a simple guy, you know? He doesn't really brood over things like you do, and he just takes things day by day as if he doesn't have anything to worry about.

"In some ways, he can be a real idiot," she chuckled, shaking her head as she thought of how infuriating Goku's simple-minded approach to life could be at times. "That carefree side of him really confuses people who don't live in the happy-go-lucky world he's got in his mind, but it's genuine, and if you knew him the way I did, you'd never have suspected his motives yesterday. All I'm saying is that I trust him, and although I can't make you do the same, I want you to trust me. I'm telling you this not because I don't give a damn for your opinion; that really isn't true. I'm just saying that there are some parts of my life that are mine, just like there are some things that belong only to you. My choice of friends is one of those things that only belongs to me. I know you never explicitly told me yesterday that I shouldn't see Goku again, but you implied it, and I'm sorry, but I won't let you pick and choose for me who I'm allowed to associate with. I'm my own person, and even if my taste in company differs from yours, I need you to accept that.

"So that's it," she sighed at last. "I've said what I wanted to say, and I don't want to be angry about this anymore either. It's pointless and silly. If we can't discuss something like this civilly, then what are we going to do when really important problems cross our path? I'm strong, Vegita, but I've come to realize that I'm only my strongest when I have you on my side. This isn't something I can fix by myself. I need you too."

She stared resolutely at Vegita, and he opened his eyes and looked up at her. "All right then," he said at last. "I've heard what you've had to say, and now I have some things to say to you. I don't think that what I did was wrong either," he said, scowling at her, "but at least now I can see that when it comes to those idiot friends of yours, what I say has no meaning. I suppose I can live with that, as long as none of them ever does to you what I saw Kakarrot do yesterday. He may be a simpleton, but he's my enemy, and regardless of how many years you may have known him, that isn't going to change. I intend to surpass him and kill him one day. You're my mate, and you share my bed, my son, and nearly everything else about my life. However, you don't have a say when it comes to Kakkarot. I won't let you talk me out of settling things with him. Do you understand?"

"I don't want to talk you out of that, Vegita," she said gently, walking over to him and winding her arms around his neck. "I don't want you to give up on your dream. Don't get me wrong here; I don't agree with your intention of killing him at all; in fact, if you ever do that, I'm not sure if I'll be able to forgive you. I don't want you to stop trying to beat him, though. I know how important it is to you, and because of that, I want you to succeed. That's not what this is about at all, as far as I'm concerned. I just want you to trust me when I say that none of my friends, especially Goku, is a threat to me. We have much worse enemies to worry about, and we'll be relying a great deal on these friends of mine to help us in the very near future. I don't care if you don't like them. That's another one of those things that belongs only to you. I can't change your opinion, and I don't intend to. I just don't want to fight about this." She looked earnestly into his eyes, and he sighed and shook his head.

"Honestly, I don't see how I ever ended up with such an idiot," he grumbled, snaking his arms around behind her and pulling her to him more tightly. Bulma giggled and she kissed him, releasing a sigh of relief when she felt him kiss her back. It was done. The quarrel was over, and they were back to normal.

When they finally stopped kissing, Bulma smiled up at Vegita. "I'm glad we've reached an understanding about this," she said happily. "I don't like fighting with you."

Vegita smirked at her. "Is that a feeble attempt at trying to get out of your exercises today?" he asked with a snide grin.

Bulma grinned back. "Dream on!" she laughed at him. "You aren't getting off the hook that easy, pal! You're stuck with me for the next eight hours, and there's nothing you can say to get out of it, either," she jeered, sticking her tongue out at him.

Vegita snorted and let her go. "Well, you may feel differently soon enough," he said, sneering at her. "I'm not going to coddle you, but today we are going to do something a little bit different." His smirk faded a little, and Bulma's interest was immediately piqued.

She laughed a little and shot him a look that said she was ready for anything. "How so?" she asked him. "Are you going to make me defend myself with one arm again?"

"Feh. You'll soon wish it was something so simple!" he grunted at her. "First of all, we aren't going to be training here," he began, stepping away from the gravity machine and heading for the door. "There won't be enough room in the confined space of this building for what I intend to have you do today."

There was no denying the curiosity on Bulma's face. "What do you mean we aren't training here?" she asked, following him outside. "We always train in the gravity room! What makes today so different?"

"Come on," he demanded, motioning for her to follow him as he leapt up into the air. "We aren't going to get where we're going any more quickly if we have to wait on you to finish yammering."

Groaning impatiently, she took off after him, and they began to fly at a moderate pace into the western sky. "Come on, Vegita!" she called to him after they flew the first couple of miles with the sound of their chi auras' being buffeted by the wind as the only audible noise. "I want to know what this is all about! What is it that we can do out this way that we can't do in the gravity room?"

Vegita smirked, as if he was greatly amused by the enormity of her stupidity. "Plenty," he said casually, "but I only intend to focus on one thing today."

"Well?" Bulma said impatiently. "Out with it! What is it then?"

Vegita glanced over at her, and his smirk faded. "We're going to fight a genuine battle today," he said quietly. "I want to see how you'll handle yourself in one. What we've done in the gravity room up until now has all been strength, endurance, and agility training. This will be the true test to see how well you can apply what you've accomplished. You want to know how you'll fare in a real fight, don't you?" he asked, frowning as he cut his eyes over at her very briefly.

"Well, yeah," she said, taken quite by surprise. "I guess I do, but why do this now, Vegita? When you say 'fight,' just how real are we going to make it?"

"As for why I chose to do this now," he said, frowning and glancing down at the sandy terrain below them, "I have my reasons, and there's no need for you to concern yourself with them now. As for how real we're going to make it, it'll be as real as possible. I'm not going to kill you, but I'm not going to go easy on you, either. Therefore, I don't expect you to pull any punches. This battle won't end until one or both of us can't fight anymore."

Bulma nodded quietly and turned her own eyes on the ground below. They were flying over the desert now. "Is that the only rule then?" she asked him. "What about my time control techniques? Are they disallowed in this?"

Vegita glanced back at her and shot her an irritated scowl. "Didn't I tell you not to pull any punches?" he growled. "I want you to fight me in the same manner you would fight an enemy who intends to kill you. I very much doubt you have a chance at defeating me even if you do use them, but even a hopeless numskull like you has been able to see in the past that you can't do anything without those techniques. I want you to fight me as if your very life depends upon your victory, and that's an order. There is no such thing as a dirty trick or an unfair advantage when it comes to a real battle. All you have at your disposal is your own wits and power, and if you can't use those to win, you'll die. It's as simple as that."

"Okay," Bulma said slowly, nodding as she realized just how serious he was about this. She looked up and stared resolutely at him. "I'll give you everything I have."

"Good," Vegita said with a nod. "We can land now. We're far enough out to begin."

They flew down to the sandy ground below and landed about fifteen yards away from one another. They got into position, and although Bulma was very nervous, she couldn't help feeling just a little bit excited. She knew it was going to be difficult, but the idea of the challenge of it thrilled her. She had been able to completely immobilize Goku yesterday. Vegita couldn't go Super Saiyan, so she might conceivably be able to do the same to him. On the other hand, she hadn't been able to deal Goku much damage. She was going to have to come up with a way to hit Vegita hard, or she was going to wear herself out with all that jumping around for nothing.

"Are you ready?" Vegita called to her, jerking her away from her thoughts. Bulma gulped and nodded.

"Yeah," she called back. "Let's do it!"

Immediately, Vegita darted forward, and it was all Bulma could do to slow time fast enough to dart out of his path. "Whoa!" she thought frantically, skipping back a few paces as he turned sharply and leapt back at her, swinging well-aimed punches at her face. "This is harder than I thought it would be! Vegita wasn't kidding! I'm going to have to slow it down even more if I want to be able to hit him at all!" She focused her power as much as she could and slowed time's flow to a mere crawl. Even after that, she still had to exert herself to stay ahead of his blows. This wasn't at all like it had been with Goku. Although Goku had sincerely tried to fend her off, she had still taken him by surprise. He hadn't been as serious as Vegita was now, but that was really only half of the problem. Not only was Vegita serious about this, but he also knew all her tricks. There'd be no element of surprise in this fight. It was going to be a hard battle; that was certain. She was just going to have to put all her mind and effort into it and hope for the best.

She knew that dodging and running away wasn't going to win her any victories, though. She was also going to have to fight back, and that was easier said than done, considering how little room for movement Vegita was allowing her. Gritting her teeth, she stopped time all the way, stepped around behind him, and then let it resume at the same slow pace as before. She wrapped an arm around his neck, and with a sweep of her leg, she used his own momentum to send his legs flying out from under him. Then she pounded him to the ground with her other elbow and leapt back up again as he jumped to his feet. She didn't give him time to react, which had been a good idea, since he certainly was about to. She promptly stopped time again and jumped in to uppercut him in the chin as she resumed time's slow pace again. He stumbled backward, but he leapt to the side as she went for another hit to his face.

They exchanged many more quick blows like this, and a few of Vegita's connected, wherever Bulma left a place unguarded. Likewise, a few of Bulma's connected, wherever she had enough time to gather her strength and stop time's flow so that she could get just far enough ahead of him to hit him. It was hard going, and it was more than apparent to Bulma that she wasn't doing nearly as much damage to Vegita as he was to her. She knew that if she kept doing things this way, she was going to wear herself out long before she actually did manage to make any headway with him, and she could tell just by looking at the smug grin on his face that he knew it too. It was time to get dirty. She didn't want to do anything dangerous to him, but she knew he wouldn't respect her if she didn't go all out.

She leapt back several hundred feet and swiftly gathered her energy as he began to charge her down. She knew he'd be expecting something, but he wouldn't expect this, considering the fact that they hadn't developed it much yet. Bulma was open to any options right now though, and she figured it couldn't hurt to try.

He was almost there now. Soon there was only twenty feet to go. Fifteen… Ten… Finally, Bulma decided that she could wait no longer, and with a fierce yell, she concentrated all her energy on a time barrier - a thin wall of space which she used to shield herself from her opponent's attack. In this space, she distorted time so that it was flowing at a much slower pace than that of the space around it. Although it was invisible to the eye and undetectable by way of chi sense to everyone without similar Toki-jin abilities, Vegita could tell right away that she was up to something, and he stopped short, just as his fist met Bulma's barrier.

It was a very good thing for him that he did, because when his fist hit the boundary between normal space-time and Bulma's distorted space-time, it was as if he was striking the densest, most impenetrable substance imaginable. The shock of the blow jarred his shoulder so that he stumbled backward, grunting loudly in response to the unexpected pain. He gaped at his hand, which had turned quite red, and was already throbbing painfully. That had been some block!

Bulma hadn't known what to expect, but she was determined not to let her good fortune slow her down. She immediately dissipated her barrier and flew at Vegita, her face set with resolve. Smirking, Vegita dodged to one side, and he gave her a brutal kick to the kidneys, causing her to yelp in pain and double over. Bulma hastily stopped time, not only to prevent him from using the opportunity to get another hit in, but also because she had decided to reconsider her strategy a bit.

"I seemed to hurt him with that last time distortion," she thought to herself, gritting her teeth as she rubbed her middle where he'd kicked her. "I can use that. Maybe if I create smaller areas of distorted space-time and somehow hit him with those…" An idea was rapidly taking shape in her mind. She could quite conceivably create a smaller area of distorted time - perhaps in the shape of a little ball or orb - and propel it through the air with the intent of striking him with it. She ought to be able to control the thing in much the same way as she controlled her so-ki-dan. Besides, he wouldn't be able to see or sense it. She'd just have to be inconspicuous about it.

"Okay," she said finally. "Round two, Vegita."

She let time flow again and quickly formed a spherical region of super-slow space-time, about the size of a softball. As Vegita began to make a beeline for her, she sent it whizzing at him, and it beamed him in the right eye, causing his feet to fly out from under him, as they kept going, while his upper body came to a sudden, jarring halt. He let out a startled yell as he landed on his back, and he scrambled back to his feet as he grabbed at his eye with one hand. Bulma wasn't about to let him get a chance to keep coming, though. She quickly sent her little time distortion sailing upwards, until it was some ten or fifteen feet above the bewildered, angry Saiyan. He gaped at her with a look of utter astonishment, and she realized that his guard was completely down. Now was her chance. Bulma sent her dense projectile hurtling down toward him, and she hit Vegita as hard as she could on the top of his head with it.

The result was far more than she had expected. The blow sent Vegita crashing face-first into the ground, and Bulma very nearly lost her focus in her surprise. She didn't let her shock get the better of her for long, however. She quickly withdrew her little projectile and let it hover a few inches away from her face as she watched Vegita and waited for him to get up and retaliate. "I'll call you a 'toki-dan,'" she thought, glancing briefly at her little creation and smirking a little as she immediately refocused on Vegita, who hadn't moved a muscle. "I think I like this technique."

Bulma watched Vegita warily for some thirty seconds, and when he didn't get up, and his chi didn't so much as flicker above the low level it was currently hovering at, she stepped a little more closely and leaned to the side a bit to peek at his face. He was completely motionless, save the steady rise and fall of his back as he breathed. She tried not to let herself get too hopeful, but she wondered if she'd actually managed to knock him out. Should she actually let her toki-dan dissipate and check on him? She had been mistaken about Vegita's level of consciousness once before, and she didn't want to get within his reach unless she was damn sure he wasn't going to get up and move of his own volition for some time.

She waited for two or three minutes more, with every nerve on edge and her excitement steadily mounting. Finally, she decided to take the chance and go check his pulse to make sure she hadn't sent him into a coma or something. "Hey," she said when she found his pulse very slow, but regular and strong enough to tell her that he wasn't in dire straits. "It's time to wake up now, Vegita." She shook him a little, and she slapped him on the face a couple of times. It took a few more seconds of this, but he finally stirred, and with a deep groan, he groggily opened his eyes.

"What the hell happened?" he grunted in a thick, irritated voice.

"I guess I knocked you out," she laughed in reply as her cheeks began to flush in her excitement. "I can't believe it actually worked! So does this count as a win?"

Groaning again, he picked himself up and shook his head a little. "You got lucky," he growled. "It's not over yet by any stretch of the imagination. I can still fight, can't I?"

Bulma tilted her head at him and shot him a skeptical look. "I disagree," she argued, standing upright again and resting her hands on her hips. "I think it should be counted as a win. If you had been a real enemy, I could have killed you by now. You lost fair and square, Vegita. We can go for another round if you like, but even you have to admit that I finally got one in on you."

Vegita scowled fiercely at her. "Just what did you do, anyway?" he asked testily, obviously avoiding answering her. "What the devil did you hit me with?"

Bulma explained what she had done, and at first, Vegita didn't say anything. He just stood there, thinking it over and frowning a little. Finally he grunted and nodded his head. "At least I know you're able to adapt to your situation," he said grudgingly. "That might keep you alive a little longer, but you're still too weak. You need to work on your strength. All the other tactics you used did nothing to me."

"Yeah, I know," Bulma admitted. "When it comes to physical strength, I'm in the toddler leagues compared you and Goku, and even Piccolo and Gohan, for that matter. I'd love to believe that I could one day build my strength up to where you guys are, but even with you training me, there's no changing the fact that I'm only human, Vegita. I can't fight the same way you guys do, because I'm not made the way you are. The only choice I have is to find another way. I'm hoping that these time control abilities of mine are that way."

Vegita nodded, and he seemed to be mulling something over again. Bulma waited patiently for him to continue, and when he did finally begin to speak again, she listened eagerly, hoping to hear some kind of reluctant compliment. She didn't know it yet, but she was in for a far less welcome surprise.

"Woman, there's another reason why I chose to train with you out here today - why I wanted to test you like this," he said finally. "There's something I have to do that I've known was inevitable for quite some time, but until now, I wasn't sure what effect it might have on you."

"Well, what is it, Vegita?" Bulma asked, very much surprised that Vegita would even mention considering her when deciding upon some course of action. It did seem rather unlike him to do so.

"I have to leave," he said, staring resolutely at her. "The way I've been training here hasn't been harsh enough, so if I want to become as powerful as I intend to be, I'm simply going to have to train elsewhere. I've realized that it won't be possible for me to finish my training here with you."

"But… but why?" Bulma asked, sounding confused and just a little bit panicked. "What's wrong with the training you're doing now? You sweat and struggle under three hundred-fifty g's of pressure, for Kami's sake, Vegita! Where are you going to find a harsh enough environment, if not here?"

Vegita shook his head. "I've come to the realization that the steady, even pace I work at in the gravity room is not the right environment to bring about the Super Saiyan transformation. I need real conflict and real danger; without them, I may never succeed, and I _will_ succeed!" he said fiercely. "Here, I have too many distractions. You and the brat will always be hanging around and interrupting me, and besides, even if I _were_ able to transform in the middle of my training here, it could very well destroy a large part of the compound - and you along with it - when it happens. I can't go any further - not here."

Bulma swallowed hard as she realized that what he was saying made a good bit of sense. That didn't mean she liked it, though. She didn't want him to leave her, and for the first time in a long while, she struggled violently against the desire to support him in this dream of his. It wasn't fair. She didn't want him to go off somewhere dangerous enough as that, because she knew all she'd be able to do while he was gone is worry about him. She stared silently at him, scowling and gritting her teeth as she wrestled with herself about it. "So what about all this today?" she asked him, finally deciding to change the subject to buy herself some time before she had to give him her thoughts on the matter. "What was the point of all of this?"

"What I told you earlier is the truth. I wanted to see how you would handle yourself in a real battle," he said, looking gravely back at her. "I can honestly say that I'm still very concerned about how terrifically weak you are. Nevertheless," he added, sighing and shaking his head in an act of blatant disgust, "I also think that you'll be responsible enough to continue your training as we have already done, and you will work on that as best as you can. I would rather you were stronger than you are, but it can't be helped. I can't delay my trip any longer."

"So where will you be going then?" Bulma asked him, glaring at him mutinously as she wondered if there was any way she could persuade him to stay without hating herself for it later.

"I will go to space," he replied calmly. "I will find a harsh, perilous place to train, and I will continue my training there. When the time for the jinzouningen to arrive draws near, I will return to fight. By then, I will have become a Super Saiyan, and we won't have to concern ourselves with the outcome of the battle any longer."

Bulma sighed and shook her head. It was no use. Try as she might, she just couldn't bring herself to beg him to stay. Even if she thought it would work, she knew that she'd never forgive herself for it, and she couldn't help but wonder if even he would. "I guess I understand why you think you have to do this," she said bitterly, lowering her face and gritting her teeth as she struggled against the tears that were beginning to stubbornly push themselves to the surface. "I'd be lying if I told you that the idea appeals to me, though. It doesn't matter how necessary it is for you to do this; I'm going to be worried sick about you while you're gone, and it's going to be hell on earth for me. How would you feel if I told you that I intended to go choose the most deadly circumstances I could find and use that as a means of training myself? You wouldn't be too crazy about the idea either, would you?"

Vegita smirked. "I suppose not," he admitted, "but it won't do _you_ any more good to train that way than it will to train as you have been. That's one of the greatest differences between Saiyans and humans."

Bulma scowled. She knew he was right, but she couldn't make herself want him to go. She wished there was some other, less worrisome way for him to become a Super Saiyan. "How are you going to travel?" she asked him. "Are you going to take my father's spaceship?"

"Yes," Vegita replied. "I've already informed him of my plans and that I want the ship ready by tomorrow morning. I'll leave then."

Bulma's breath stuck in her throat. So soon? She gritted her teeth and turned away from him as she was no longer able to keep the tears at bay. She began to shake a little, but she reined in her emotions as best as she could and let out a long, shaky sigh. "I guess you know better than I what you have to do," she muttered in a choked voice. "Just keep this in mind when you're battering yourself to a bloody pulp out there," she said, whirling around and flashing her tear-filled eyes at him angrily. "If you dare let yourself get killed, I swear I'll never forgive you! Do you understand? I will _hate_ you, Vegita!"

"Don't be such a fool," he sighed, pulling her to him and shaking his head at her as she stifled a sob against his neck. "I'm not going to get myself killed. You don't have to be so dramatic about it."

Bulma shook her head and curled her hands into fists against his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt in her tightly clenched fingers. "I'm not being dramatic," she sniffed angrily. "And even if I am, it's your fault, you jerk!"

"Hmph!" Vegita snorted indifferently. He held her against him for several minutes as she continued to cry, and although she struggled viciously against them, the sobs just didn't want to stop. It felt as though she was losing him for good, and she was unable to face that kind of possibility. Why did fate have to be so cruel? There was no way to avoid this separation, and she knew it. Until he came back to her, there'd be no banishing the fear that she'd never see him again, and to her, that was the worst kind of torture she could imagine for herself.

Finally though, Bulma's sobs began to subside, and they gradually gave way to sniffles and the occasional hiccup. Vegita nuzzled his cheek against her ear and held her more tightly. "Woman, I give you my word that I will return. Do you honestly believe that I would lie to you about something so significant?"

Gritting her teeth, Bulma raised her head and wiped her eyes dry on her arm. "All right then," she said finally, pushing away from him and looking him in the eyes. "Let's get back to work. Whether you're leaving tomorrow or not, you still owe me another seven hours. Come on!"

Although her abrupt change of topic ought to have surprised him, Vegita must have understood why she had done it, and what it meant. Bulma had accepted this as an inevitability, and she was going to make the best use of what time she had left with him before he left. He nodded gravely, and they both assumed defensive positions. Then they resumed their battle, and Bulma could never remember fighting him so earnestly - for training purposes, that is.

They returned to the compound later that evening – tired, sore, but together. They did not leave each other's company all evening, and after a light, quiet dinner with Bulma's parents, they both adjourned to Vegita's capsule house. Naturally, Dr. Briefs had told his wife about Vegita's plans, so although Bulma didn't explicitly ask her to, she took care of Trunks' feeding and care that evening without question. She knew that her daughter would spend every remaining moment that she had left with her man, and she wouldn't have blamed her for it in the slightest.

As it had been on so many nights before this one, Bulma shared Vegita's bed. Tonight was different though, as their passion was much longer, more powerful, and far more desperate. They both knew that their next night together would be long in coming, after all. It wasn't until close to three o'clock in the morning when they finally went to sleep, and only then it was because Bulma's strength had finally given out on her, and she'd collapsed in Vegita's arms. She'd gone past the point of exhaustion, and he had allowed it, because he had known that she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Bulma didn't shed anymore tears before he left, but her lips trembled a little when she brought Trunks out later that morning to see his father off. Her own father had worked all night to get the ship ready, and by morning it was parked out in the middle of the compound, fueled up and loaded for a ten-month trip into space. Bulma and Trunks weren't the only ones there to see Vegita off. So were both of Bulma's parents.

"Trunks and I will be waiting," Bulma said quietly, kissing him one last time once all of the system checks had been performed and he was cleared for takeoff. "Come back to us safely, Vegita."

"You know I will," he snorted derisively at her, pausing before turning to ascend the ramp onto the spaceship. "Is that really all you hope to come from this?"

Bulma smiled and shook her head. "Come back a Super Saiyan then," she said with a soft laugh. "You know I won't think any less of you if you don't, but I guess it would be nice to make your trip worthwhile while you're out there. Have it your way."

Vegita grunted and nodded. Then, with a curt nod of goodbye to Bulma's parents, he stepped inside the ship and pressed the button to close the hatch. Bulma stepped back away with her parents as Vegita fired the engines and took off. The ship flew very quickly for the heavens, and before long it was completely out of sight.

"May he come back to us swiftly and safely," Mrs. Briefs said, wrapping an arm around her husband.

"Indeed," he agreed. "Are you going to be all right, Bulma?" he asked her, noticing that she was still looking up at the sky where his ship had disappeared, and she hadn't moved a muscle since she had lost sight of it.

"Yes," she said at last. "I guess I'd better get this little guy his morning bottle. Come on, Trunks-chan," she said, kissing Trunks on his nose. He giggled at her, and she walked inside with him, holding him very close.

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs exchanged looks. They both could see that Bulma was pretty torn up about this, but they also knew that she was going to have to deal with it in her own way.

"Thank God she has Trunks," Mrs. Briefs sighed as they both turned to follow her inside.

"Yes," Dr. Briefs agreed. "At least she has him. She'll be all right though; you'll see. Our daughter is a strong one, and she has a fine head on her shoulders, too. She'll get over it soon enough, and I'm sure that Vegita will be back on time too. Everything will be fine, dear; I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right," Mrs. Briefs sighed. "I really do."

- - - - -

Although the remaining months seemed to fly by for everyone else who was in training, they went at a crawl for Bulma. She spent the greater part of every day in the gravity room doing weight and agility training, and the rest of the day with her baby. Although it was apparent to her mother and father that she missed Vegita terribly, she never said a word about it. She wanted so much to see him, to touch him and hold him, but she didn't breathe a word of it to anyone. She didn't want her parents to know how worried she was, or how hard it was for her to train alone when she'd been doing it with him for so long.

She trained regardless though, and very fiercely at that. She put herself through more punishment than Vegita usually did, and there were several reasons for this, the largest of which being that while she concentrated on her training, it was easier to ignore her worry about Vegita. As a result, she made extraordinary increases in strength and speed during that last year. In addition to that, she worked hard to perfect and hone the techniques she and Vegita had developed, as well as the newest one she had created on the spur of the moment in her last training session with him. It got to the point where calling upon her time manipulation abilities was as simple as taking a breath, and although she never once slowed her pace, she was gradually beginning to lose that gnawing worry about how she'd fare against the jinzouningen on that fateful day in the future.

That day was drawing ever nearer, no matter how slowly time seemed to be moving for Bulma. By the time there was only a month remaining, one could no longer see a glimpse of Bulma that didn't look like she was on pins and needles. Vegita hadn't yet returned, and Bulma knew - although her father never dared mentioned it to her - that he should only have enough provisions left for a couple more weeks up there. Bulma was training her most fiercely now, making a desperate effort to ward this thought from her mind. Still, neither devastating training nor the adorable, laughing face of her son could keep it entirely away for any given moment. Bulma was really worried, and there was no help for it.

As much as she worried, however, Vegita didn't return. Bulma refused to believe that something had happened to him, so when she went to bed at night she always just forced herself to assume that he'd arrive the next day. Her assumption seemed to be less and less plausible as time wore on, and even on the morning of May twelfth - the very day that the Jinzouningen were scheduled to arrive - Vegita still hadn't come back.

It was with a heavy heart that Bulma set out that morning to meet the others at the edge of the city in which the mysterious boy from the future had determined that the jinzouningen would appear. Bulma kissed both her parents goodbye and told them to take good care of Trunks for her while she was gone. Her mother didn't quite manage to keep her tears hidden as her daughter hugged her one last time, but she knew in her heart that when Bulma told her she'd be back that she really would.

"Be careful, Bulma," her father said as she hugged him. "Your mother and I will be praying for you and your companions. Keep in mind though that there's no shame in coming back if you know there's no way you'll win. We'll love you no matter what you do."

Bulma smiled. "Don't worry, Dad," she said. "We've all been training really hard, and we aren't going to lose. I'll be back soon; you'll see. All the same, if I don't come back today," she said, hesitating a little before taking off, "then I want you two to take Trunks to the turtle hermit's and hide out there. I have a feeling that the jinzouningen would more likely be drawn to a large city than to a small island out in the middle of nowhere."

Without giving them a chance to reply, she took off at top speed for Metro South. There was no more time to waste worrying about Vegita, she tried to tell herself as she raced past mountains and desert rock formations. The time had come to focus on the threat that they'd all been training fiercely for during the last three years. The jinzouningen were coming today, and with or without Vegita, they had to be ready to fight.

When Bulma finally reached Metro South, she noticed that a few of the others had already gathered atop a wide cliff overlooking the city on the east side. She flew down to join them, and she greeted everybody as cheerfully as she could.

"Hi guys," she said, waving as she landed lightly on the ground amongst them. Tenshinhan and Chaozu were there, and so were Yamucha and Kuririn. The others hadn't arrived yet, apparently.

"Hi Bulma," Yamucha said. "You look nice and fit!"

"Yeah, I can sense that you've been training hard," Chaozu gasped, gawking at her with a very impressed look. Tenshinhan nodded and stared at her with the same astonished expression. Bulma realized that this was the first time these two had sensed her since Goku had gotten back three years ago, and she knew that she had come a long way since then, thanks to Vegita. Perhaps they hadn't thought such an advance in strength was possible in someone like her. She couldn't well blame them, as she'd have said the exact same thing if it hadn't been for Vegita.

"Thanks," she said, nodding appreciatively at them. "You guys feel like you've been working pretty hard yourselves," she commented, glancing around at each one in turn and smiling.

Kuririn laughed. "Yamucha made a great sparring partner," he said, grinning and poking Yamucha in the ribs. "He was a pushover most of the time, but it came in handy to have someone to knock around a little here and there!"

"Oh yeah?" Yamucha laughed, putting Kuririn in a headlock and pretending to punch him in the face. "I could show them just how much of a pushover I am if you want!"

"Hey, knock it off!" Kuririn said, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. He pushed away from Yamucha and laughed uncomfortably. "Okay, so he's not as much of a wuss as he used to be. We're still pretty close, though. I've won just as many matches as you have, pal."

Bulma laughed. "How about you two?" she asked Tenshinhan and Chaozu. "You guys been working as hard as these two clowns, or did you actually do some serious training?"

"Hey!" Yamucha and Kuririn protested in unison, while Chaozu giggled at them and looked up at Tenshinhan with a grin.

"We're a lot stronger now than we were three years ago," Tenshinhan said with a confident grin. "Chaozu and I have trained nearly non-stop. I think we're ready."

"That's good," Bulma said, nodding approvingly. "I hope you're right. There's no telling what we're getting ourselves into, you know?"

"Here come the big boys," Kuririn said, shading his eyes in the sun and looking up at three figures that were rapidly approaching from the mountains. A few seconds later, Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo arrived, and they all greeted each other again.

"Well, here we are again," Kuririn said, yawning and stretching a bit. "I guess all we can do now is wait, huh?"

"Yeah, we still have another half-hour," Bulma said, looking at her watch. "Maybe we should come up with a strategy for finding these things when they arrive. I've never even seen an artificial human before - at least, not that I know of. I wish you'd asked that boy what we were supposed to be looking for, anyway, Goku."

"Sorry, Bulma," he said, frowning and shrugging. "I guess I didn't think to do that. Oh well. We'll just have to do our best, won't we?"

"I say we split up and take separate areas of the city to keep our eyes and ears open for any signs of unusual activity," Piccolo said, looking over the cliff at the peaceful image of Metro South below. "There are enough of us that we can cover the area pretty thoroughly."

"Yeah, but we still aren't all here yet," Gohan remarked, looking around. "Bulma, where's Vegita?"

Bulma flinched as though she'd been stung. "Er… he's not here yet," she said quietly. "He went out to space to train alone about ten months ago, and he hasn't come home yet. He promised he'd be back in time, so I'm sure he'll be here any minute though," she said quickly, nodding for emphasis.

Piccolo and Goku looked at each other, and the looks they wore were not confident ones. "Okay then," Goku said, putting a hand on Bulma's shoulder. "If he said he'd be here, he will. For now, we'll just work with what we have until he does come. He'll know what to do when he gets here. Don't worry."

"I know," she said, nodding at him. "I'm not worried."

"Hey, look!" Chaozu cried. "There's a car coming over here!"

"A car?" Kuririn asked, looking where Chaozu was pointing. "What the heck would a car be doing all the way up here?"

"That's Yajirobe!" Goku cried, pointing at him. "It looks like Karin sent him down here after all!"

Yajirobe landed on the grass beside them, and he grunted noisily as he stepped out of his air car. "Well, here I am," he grumbled. "I hope Karin's happy. I came all the way down to deliver his stupid beans."

He tossed the bag of Sensu beans to Goku, who nodded at him in thanks. "Thanks Yajirobe. Kuririn, I'm going to give this to you," he said, handing the bag to Kuririn and nodding. "When we all go down there, I want you to stay posted up in the air above the center of the city. That way, you'll be able to keep an eye on all of us. When it looks like one of us has found the jinzouningen, you should be the first one there in case of trouble."

"That's another thing," he added, looking up at everyone. "We're going to be separated down there, so let's not try to do anything by ourselves, okay? If one of us finds the jinzouningen, fire a shot in the air or something to let the rest of us know, and we'll all come to help. There's no need for any of us to get hurt today. We've all trained too hard to prepare for this, and we're strongest as a group, so that's how we'll fight. Agreed?"

"Agreed," everyone answered, except for Yajirobe, who had decided to sit on a tree stump and eat the lunch he had packed.

"We still have fifteen minutes," Bulma commented, glancing at her watch again. "Do you suppose we should head down there already?"

"I think it would be a good idea," Goku replied, nodding at her. "You take the center, below Kuririn, Yamucha," he said, nodding at Yamucha. "Bulma, you go west a few blocks, to where that shopping center is down there. You Gohan…"

After everyone had been assigned a place, each hopped down off the cliff and headed for his or her respective assigned spot. "See you later, Yajirobe," Bulma called to him before she left. "Thanks for bringing us the Sensu beans."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, shrugging at her. "Don't get yourself killed, Bulma."

She grinned at him and flew down to the intersection bordering a large shopping complex in the western end of Metro South. She glanced at her watch and took up a position atop one of the taller buildings so that she could see things better. It was only a matter of time now.

"Please hurry, Vegita," she thought anxiously, looking wistfully up at the sky and wondering what could be keeping him.


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66: A Surprising Face**

It wasn't long before Bulma had decided that perching atop a building wasn't what she wanted. She could barely see the tops of the heads of the people walking by below her, so studying their faces was out of the question. She didn't want to look at ants; she wanted to be able to scrutinize everyone closely. She was supposed to be looking for anything out of the ordinary, and all she would be able to see up here was any kind of conflict that might occur below. Common sense told her that it would be way too late by then; she wanted to be able to prevent any casualties before they happened. She didn't like the idea of having to wait until she saw a massacre in order to identify the jinzouningen.

She stopped time and flew down to the street level. She walked over to the sidewalk and put herself in a place where she was sure no one was looking, and then she let time flow again.

Now then; it was time to get down to business. She walked the entire length of her assigned area, scrutinizing the faces of everyone she saw, all the while looking for something - anything - unusual. After an exhaustive search, she ended back up where she started, and she had found nothing to arouse her suspicion. She glanced down at her watch. It was ten minutes past time already. She wondered if anyone else had seen the jinzouningen but had never gotten to call for help. She hoped not. Gritting her teeth, she began another search of her area. It was all she could do.

As she walked warily down the sidewalk in front of a large department building, Bulma suddenly had the most peculiar sense of foreboding. All the little hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end, and her muscles began to tense as she recognized that this was the feeling she got when she thought she was being watched.

Bulma stopped walking and slowly turned around. As it turned out, she had been right. She _was_ being watched, and apparently she was being followed, too. Standing right there behind her, no less than ten feet away, were two of the strangest-looking (not to mention strangely-dressed) people she'd ever seen. Both were dressed in odd, circus-like costumes with vests and baggy pants. The one on the left was a large, portly man with starkly white skin and sharp, slanted eyes. He was staring at Bulma with a cold, expressionless stare, and it made her a little jumpy just looking at him.

The other was more ordinary-looking; he was a thin, upright old man with long white hair. His eyes weren't as slanted, but they were sharp and most definitely shrewd. He had an air of confidence and malice about his expression, and Bulma realized almost immediately that she recognized him. It was Dr. Gero! Yes, she was sure of it. That face was unmistakable. She looked him over a bit, and it was then that she noticed his hat. On the black felt was sewn the notorious symbol of the Red Ribbon Army. That cinched it, but why was Gero here? He should be dead by now, she thought anxiously, darting her eyes back and forth at the two of them and stepping backward defensively. Why was it that there was only one artificial human and Gero instead of two artificial humans? It didn't make sense. She took another step back and looked around for possible routes of escape. Damn. She had been backed into a corner. There was nothing around her but buildings and people. If she had to fight the jinzouningen here there'd be a lot of collateral damage.

"What's the matter, Ms. Briefs?" Gero asked with a hint of a smirk tugging at his white mustache. "Do my companion and I frighten you?"

Bulma glared at him. "I'm more surprised than I am frightened," she snorted disdainfully. "It's not often that you get to meet someone who's risen from the grave. Why aren't you dead, Dr. Gero?"

"Ah!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "So you do recognize me! Well done, young Ms. Briefs! It appears that your father must have told you about me after all."

"Only what he _could_ tell me," she said, crossing her arms and shrugging. "I know a considerable bit more about you than he ever did, though. In fact, I'm fairly certain that I know a great deal more than even you may realize. Still," she said, glaring at the smug grin that had now spread across the fat white one's face, "I am indeed surprised by what I see. I was expecting two jinzouningen, Doctor - not you and this one here."

"Jinzouningen?" Gero asked, looking very surprised indeed. "What do you know of jinzouningen? How did you find out about my pet project?"

"I know only what I was told," she answered, shaking her head. "I was told by a very reliable source that today, you were going to awaken two jinzouningen, and they would be two of the most powerful creatures imaginable. These two were going to kill you and begin wreaking havoc upon the world, and they were going to start," she said, pointing at the ground, "with Metro South. So why is it that I don't find two jinzouningen, Doctor? Perhaps you can enlighten me. Why do I find you instead?"

"Well, I don't know who could possibly have filled you in on this little secret of mine," he chuckled sinisterly, "but since you won't live to warn anyone about it, I guess it won't hurt to fill you in on another. You see, my dear, you actually _are_ looking at two jinzouningen. This is jinzouningen Juukuugou," he said, motioning to the one standing next to him, who gave a polite bow. "And I am jinzouningen Nijuugou. We are both artificial humans, as you can see." He removed his hat and bowed gracefully, and it was then that Bulma could see the glassy, transparent dome atop his head. Inside it was a blue fluid surrounding a very human-looking brain. "What you see up here is the actual brain of Dr. Henry Gero," he said, pointing up at his head and smirking at her. "He and I are really one and the same, but this body has more merits than the one in which this brain previously resided. In all respects, I am a stronger, smarter, much faster Dr. Gero than I was as a normal human, so I suppose you could say that the old Dr. Gero _is_ now dead," he concluded with a courteous nod, returning his cap to its former position.

"I see," Bulma said, nodding as she finally understood. "Well, this is indeed a surprise. The others aren't going to believe it. Oh well," she said with a shrug. "It was a grand plan, Doctor, but unfortunately for you, it lost its secrecy three entire years ago. My friends and I already knew what you were up to, and we've been making preparations accordingly. I'm afraid that you lost long before you began."

"Bluffing doesn't work with me, Ms. Briefs," Gero laughed, crossing his arms and shaking his head at her. "Besides, I don't care how much you think you're prepared for Nineteen and myself. I've taken measures to ensure that both I and my creation are stronger than all of you."

"What measures?" Bulma asked, looking at him with a kind of distrustful curiosity in her eyes.

"You see, I've been watching all of you," he said with a sinister grin. "Ever since the twenty-third Tenkaichi Budokai, I've had my little mechanical camera robots keeping track of your movements and your developing strength. I collected data on all of you for many years. It wasn't until after your fight with the Saiyans that I decided that I had collected enough to determine all of your rates of progression, and therefore could determine how strong you would have become by the time I would be able to finish my project. I have monitored all of you, but none so closely as Son Goku. You see, you're all picayune in comparison to him. None of you others would have been any real threat to me, and I knew that, so I simply created these artificial bodies to be stronger than Son Goku would be today. Naturally, there's nothing you or any of your friends can do about us now."

Bulma couldn't restrain the grin that was tugging at one corner of her mouth. "You mean… you stopped monitoring us… right after the fight with Vegita and Nappa? That's it? You stopped all your data collection right after that?"

"Yes; by then it was unnecessary to collect further data," he replied, nodding smugly at her. "With the exception of Son Goku, you were all progressing at a fairly linear rate, and he was progressing more along the lines of a second-order exponential. I set my estimates to take into consideration many possible spurts, and I'm more than ready for whatever your pitiful group has to offer."

Bulma began to chuckle. Then she began to laugh. "Oh!" she gasped, holding her side and laughing so hard she could hardly stand it. "I can't believe it! What incredible luck!"

"What are you cackling about?" Gero asked, smirking bemusedly at her. "Don't tell me you're trying to pull another bluff on me."

"It's no bluff," Bulma said, chuckling and grinning at him. "I just can't believe that you rested the fate of your whole plan on a simple extrapolation so many years ago! It's perfectly ridiculous! You have absolutely no idea what's _happened_ in the last four years, do you? What we were capable of back when you stopped monitoring us is _nothing_ compared to what we can do now! Good God, Doctor! The trip to Namek alone made Son-kun so powerful that no form of extrapolation could have predicted it, but to believe that a second order exponential function with respect to time could approximate his progress is perfectly ludicrous! You are aware, of course, that Goku isn't human. He's a Saiyan, and as a Saiyan, he has access to unbridled power and unimaginable potential to grow. Of course, you didn't know about that, though. All you knew was what you observed. Well, it's my turn to let _you_ in on a little secret, good Doctor. Goku is a Super Saiyan, and that isn't some kind of corny term you'd hear out of a comic book, either. It's the golden fleece of the entire Saiyan race! You're in for a great deal more than you bargained for, I'm afraid."

Gero shook his head and chuckled at her. "I can see now what you're up to, Ms. Briefs," he said, staring at her with sharp, bright eyes. "You're trying to buy yourself time. You're hoping you can delay the inevitable long enough for your companions to come and save you. Well, I'm afraid that you won't succeed there. I've grown tired of listening to you babble, and I think it's time for you to say good-bye. It's a great shame indeed," he said, poising to attack. "I had so wanted your father to witness your death. I suppose I'll have to settle for telling him all about it… after I destroy your mother before his very eyes, that is," he added, chuckling sinisterly.

Bulma's eyes glittered with rage, but she resisted the urge to attack. She knew better than that, and besides, he had been right about one thing: she needed to buy some time. Therefore, instead of attacking, she only laughed at him and crossed her arms.

"Son Goku isn't the only one who's gotten stronger either," she said with a confident smirk. "I've been training nonstop for the past three years. Would you care to see for yourself just how on the mark your calculations about _me_ were? We've got a little time left, after all. My friends will most likely come to see what's going on when I increase my battle power, but if you're so sure that we aren't any threat to you, then I could give you a demonstration if you'd like."

That achieved the desired effect. Attacking men's egos was the best way to go, Bulma thought with a smile as Gero smirked at her and relaxed his stance. He stepped back and waved his hand for her to go ahead.

Bulma offered him a polite nod of thanks, and then she began to gather her strength. At first, no one would have noticed anything, but it didn't take long for the atmosphere around Bulma to change dramatically. As her chi intensity began to soar, the air around her began to swirl and rise, but she was careful to keep the visual signs of her power-up to a minimum, so as not to attract gawkers. She watched Gero's face for any signs of surprise as she approached her maximum, and she wasn't disappointed. She was only halfway there and already his eyes had begun to bug out a little. She sped up the process a bit, and within a half a minute, she had gone as far as she cared to without attracting any undo attention. Just the same, the waves of energy radiating from her body were clearly visible, and already she had attracted the attention of several passersby.

"There," she said at last, assuming a defensive stance. "How close am I to your calculations, Doctor? In all fairness to myself, I didn't exactly go as far as I could, but this is close enough for government work."

"Indeed," Gero replied, nodding impressively. "I must say, you have indeed gone farther with your training than I had predicted. You must be very proud of yourself."

Bulma could detect the trace of resentment in his voice, and she frowned. "I'm nothing compared to the others," she said coldly. "Don't be a fool, Gero. Don't throw your life and Nineteen's away in a battle with us. You won't win."

Gero sneered. "Your concern for our well-being is very flattering, my dear," he said caustically, "but I'm afraid that you flatter yourself too much. Even if you did surpass my expectations, you can rest assured that it isn't enough to make you a threat to me or Nineteen. Now," he said, uncrossing his arms. "Your friends are on their way. I think I'll give them a nice spectacle to stumble onto when they get here. Enjoy the afterlife, little simpleton."

Gero moved far more quickly than Bulma could follow. He rushed forward and grabbed her left arm with one hand, and then he clamped his other hand over her mouth. He then lifted her into the air with the hand that was gripping her face. Bulma didn't know what he was up to, but she didn't care to find out, either. She immediately stopped time and wrenched herself free of his hands. Then, after stepping back a good distance, she raised her arm and shot a warning blast into the air. She let it hover high in the air, about as high as the tallest building, and then she allowed time to resume its course. As she did so, she let her chi ball explode, sending a shower of sparks down on top of them. The vapor trails would lead her companions straight to her.

"For your information, I've been there already," Bulma said coldly, rubbing away the sting his grip had left in her jaw, "and I can say with a great deal of certainty that you don't have anything pleasant waiting for you there. And another thing," she said hotly. "Mind who you're calling a simpleton, you old fool! If you had half of my brains, you'd have realized already what a world of trouble you're getting yourself into. If I've gone this far beyond your expectations, you ought to be able to calculate how vast Son-kun's power must be by now. Really though, I don't much care at this point. Have it your way, Gero. We can do this the hard way if you like, but just don't say later that I didn't warn you."

Gero just gaped at her in surprise. Even his fat friend seemed flabbergasted. He looked over at Gero in amazement.

"I did not detect her movement," he said incredulously.

"Neither did I," Gero said, just as incredulously. "She displayed the same speed in the footage of her exploits in the battle with the Saiyans three years ago, but even seeing it now, I am unable to determine its function. How do you do that?" he demanded of Bulma.

"That's one secret I don't intend to share with the likes of you," she said coldly. "Besides, I very much doubt you would believe me if I told you, considering that it defies the very laws of physics as the scientific community knows them."

They didn't have time to say anything further to each other, as Kuririn and Gohan arrived almost at the same time. They landed on either side of Bulma and stared in surprise at the two ridiculous-looking figures before them.

"We sensed your energy skyrocket and we just saw your signal, Bulma," Gohan said. "Are you all right?"

"Are _these_ guys the jinzouningen?!" Kuririn asked incredulously.

"My answer is yes to both of you," she said curtly. "I have a little bit of introducing to do, but let's wait until the rest of us gets here. It'll only be a few more seconds," she said, and her eyes shot upward briefly, as Goku, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Yamucha arrived almost all at once.

"Are you all right, Bulma?" Goku asked when they landed. "That was your signal, wasn't it?"

"Yes Goku," Bulma replied. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is jinzouningen Juukuugou, or artificial human Nineteen," she said, motioning to the pale, fat man next to Gero. "And this," she said, pointing at Gero, "is Nijuugou - artificial human Twenty. In his former life, he was known by another name," she added, baring her teeth at him. "His name used to be Dr. Henry Gero."

"Dr. Gero?!" Goku cried. "But he's supposed to be dead!"

"Yeah, it turns out that boy from the future had his facts mixed up," Bulma said, chuckling wryly and shaking her head, "but this _is_ Gero. He transplanted his brain into an artificial body, so we do have two artificial humans here. It just so happens that one of them is also Dr. Gero. I told him that we've known about him for the past three years and that we've been preparing for him. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine. It just saves me the trouble of explainin' things to him," Goku replied, nodding at her. He turned his attention to Gero and frowned at him. "Old man," he said sternly, "are you gonna continue with your plan now that you know we're on to you? It's not too late for you to give up this dumb idea of revenge and leave this place with your life."

Gero smirked evilly. "Well, well," he said with a cajoling smirk. "How the little boy has grown up. I can see that the eloquence of your youth has not faded in the advent of adulthood, Son Goku. Your simple speech suits a buffoon like you. I will truly enjoy destroying you and your friends."

"There's no point in trying to reason with him, Goku," Bulma said, shaking her head in disgust. "He's already tried to kill me once. At least, I assume that's what he was trying to do," she added, glaring at him. "He never got a chance to follow through with whatever it was; I saw to that."

"There's still time for me to make up for that minor oversight," Gero said with a sneer. "Don't think that just because you have your little band of misfits with you that you're safe from me. I can kill you just as easily now as I could have a few moments ago."

"All right then," Goku said, his face very grave. "If you still intend to fight, then we have no choice, but we'll hafta take this battle elsewhere. There's too many innocent people here to get in the way."

"There is a simpler way to deal with insignificant nuisances like them," Gero said with a cruel smirk. Without so much as another word, he began shooting red beams out of his eyes at everything around them, causing everything they touched to explode and burn up in a cloud of smoke and flames. Bulma stared in horror at the devastation and destruction that this was causing to the inhabitants of this peaceful city. It was hellish and terrible. How could he do such a thing?

"_Nooo_!" Goku howled in anguish. His scream jerked Bulma back into fight mode. Snarling furiously, she stopped time and rushed at Gero. She punched him squarely in the face, and after clasping her hands together in a tight ball, she slammed him into the ground. She then let time flow again and jumped back.

"Damn you, you psychotic old fool!" she yelled, glaring at him as he scrambled to his feet. "Do that again, and I swear I'll claw those eyes right out of their sockets!"

"What the hell did you do?!" Gero cried, raising a hand to his face in consternation. "What just happened?"

"That was nothing compared to what you have in store for you," she growled in reply. "Goku suggested that we take this fight elsewhere. I'm suggesting for your sake that you do what he says, or the next time I hit you, you won't be able to get up as easily. Do I make myself clear?" she added, walking forward until she was right in his face, and glaring angrily into his cold, blue eyes.

"I'll save you for last," he said in a cool, quiet voice. "I'm going to make your death a very long, painful one too, but not before I make you watch me do the same to your mother and father. I promise you that."

"Save it for the battlefield, old man," she replied in a soft, menacing hiss. "Perhaps my father was a troublesome enemy to you in the past, but I promise _you_ that I'll be far more irritating than he could ever hope to be. You have my word on that."

"Bulma," Goku called to her. "That's enough. Let's go."

"Right," she said, shooting Gero one more quick glare. "After you, Gero."

Gero smirked malevolently at her, and then he and Nineteen flew up into the air. They all followed them up, and then, with Goku leading the way, they flew off to find a more suitable spot for their battle. Bulma eyed the jinzouningen warily as she flew along behind them, and she beckoned Kuririn in more closely to her so that she could share her unsettling observations.

"There's something weird about those two," she whispered quietly to him. "Look at them. They're flying, just like we are, but they're giving off no energy signature at all. It's as if there's nothing there. They're leaving no chi trails either. It's really weird, and I don't like it. It makes it awfully hard to sense their movements."

"I agree," Kuririn whispered back. "I noticed that too, when Gero was blasting the city. It was as if he had no chi power at all. I guess that artificial humans don't give off chi signatures."

"Well, in any event," she said with a frustrated shrug, "keep your eyes peeled. If they try to pull a fast one on us, we're going to have to rely more on our eyes and ears than our chi senses."

"Right," Kuririn said, nodding. He looked on ahead of them at Goku, and it was then that he noticed how strange he looked. Goku was perspiring and breathing heavily. It looked as though he had just gone through a heavy workout, but they'd only been flying a short distance. What was going on?

"Hey Bulma," he said quietly. "Look at Goku. What do you make of that?"

Bulma did as he asked, and she noticed what he had. "I don't know," she said, sounding very surprised. "He didn't do anything strenuous yet. I wonder why he'd be so worn out right now?"

"I don't get it either," Kuririn said, his expression darkening, "but I don't like it. Something's wrong with Goku, and I don't want to admit it, but it looks like he may not be able to fight at full power today."

"I hope you're wrong, Kuririn," Bulma sighed. "I really do."

They flew on for another twenty miles or so, and then finally, Gero was beginning to look like he was losing his patience. He glared at Goku and pointed to the deserted, rocky ground below them.

Goku shook his head and pointed farther ahead. That was apparently not the answer that Gero was looking for.

"We are stopping here," he said with an obstinate finality in his voice. "We can begin the fight down there or right here. Either way, I intend to start now."

"It's okay, Goku," Bulma called up to him. "We're far enough away from the city now that it ought to be safe to begin."

"All right then," he agreed. "We'll stop here."

They all flew down to the ground and landed in two groups - the jinzouningen in one, and the rest in another. Each side eyed the other warily, sizing up the opposing warriors and trying to determine which way this fight should be handled. Finally, Gero made the first offer.

"We are ready," he said with a confident smirk. "I'm feeling generous today. You will only have to fight one of us at a time, so go ahead and choose who among you will fight first."

Bulma bared her teeth at him. "Do you want one of us to go first, Goku?" she asked, glancing up at him and frowning at the way his breathing was so labored.

"No, Bulma," Goku replied sharply. "I'm going first. I don't want the rest of you to get involved in this unless it can't be helped."

"Okay," she said, removing her gaze from him and glaring at Gero. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference in the end. A super Saiyan was a super Saiyan, right? "Good luck, then. We've got your back, Goku."

"May I fight him, Twenty?" Nineteen asked eagerly. Gero smirked at him.

"Go ahead, Nineteen," he agreed. "Let's have a good show!"

"Heehee!" Nineteen giggled excitedly. "I'll make short work of him for you, Twenty!"

He and Goku got into position, and everyone else backed off a little to give them more room. Bulma just couldn't make sense of Goku's fatigue. She edged over closer to Gohan and Piccolo.

"Hey, what do you make of your father, Gohan?" she asked. "He looks really worn out over there."

"I know," Gohan said quietly. "I don't understand it."

Bulma thought for a few moments, and then a horrified expression spread across her face as an unpleasant possibility dawned on her. "Wait a minute!" she cried anxiously. "Did he ever take that heart medicine that the boy from the future gave him?"

"No, I don't think he did," Gohan replied. "He never got sick, so he just figured he had beaten the disease from training so much."

"This isn't good. Maybe he figured wrong," Bulma said, gulping nervously and looking back at Goku, who was making his very best effort to focus all of his waning strength on this battle. "It doesn't look to me like he's well at all."

"Gohan," Piccolo said, frowning grimly as Goku and Nineteen began to fight. "I want you to go home and fetch that medicine. Briefs could be right about this, and we can't risk losing your father this early in the battle."

"Wait a minute," Bulma said, holding her hand up. "Let me go. I can teleport there, so it'll be much faster. I don't want to leave, but if we need that medicine, we ought to get it fast."

"All right," Piccolo agreed. "Get going. We may not have much time to spare."

Bulma nodded, and instantly, she was gone. Gohan looked up at Piccolo nervously. "Do you think that stuff will make my dad himself again, Piccolo?" he asked him.

"I don't know," Piccolo admitted, "but we have no choice but to count on it. Your dad seems to be losing strength fast."

Bulma flew toward Mount Paozu at a quick but comfortable pace, being mindful not to use too much energy as she flew during halted time. Just the same, her anxiety caused her to fly a little more quickly than she had intended. She didn't want to believe it, but she was really beginning to worry that Goku was going to end up dropping out of the fight before he even had a chance to take out Nineteen. She wondered what his ailment would do to him before the medicine could take effect, and perhaps more importantly, how long it would be before he could fight at full strength again. She quickly brushed that thought away, though; she didn't even want to think about such things. She knew that whatever it wound up doing to him, it was nothing short of a certainty that it wouldn't help his fighting abilities at all.

When she arrived at the Son house, she found Chichi inside, working in the kitchen. Bulma let herself in, and she resumed time again as she walked into the living room. "Chichi," she called, heading for the kitchen. "Chichi, it's me, Bulma. I need to talk to you, and it's really important that we hurry!"

Bulma heard the crash of a dish falling to the floor and shattering. "Bulma?!" Chichi cried, rushing out of the kitchen and nearly slamming into her. "How the heck did you get in my house? What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about how I got here," Bulma said quickly, waving it away. "That's not important, especially considering why I'm here. I need the medicine Goku had," she said. "Did he give it to you?"

"Yes, he did," Chichi said, pointing to one of the cupboards in the kitchen and leading Bulma there. "I put it in here, but he never asked me for it again."

"He needs it now," Bulma explained. "We think he's getting that heart disease now. He's way overexerted, and all he's been doing is flying. We need to get that medicine to him right away."

"Well, here you go then," Chichi said, putting it into Bulma's hand and pushing her toward the door. "Take it to him quickly, and let me know as soon as you can whether it did the trick or not. Oh, and is Gohan all right?"

"He's fine," Bulma said, smiling at her. "He hasn't even had a chance to fight yet, and he may not. I'll fight before him if I have my way, and if Gero, er… the jinzouningen have to tangle with me, they won't fare well enough to worry themselves with Gohan."

"You'd better be right," Chichi said with a menacing frown. "Now get going!"

"Right!" Bulma said. "We'll see you later, Chichi!" She stopped time again and flew for the battlefield. So far so good. She hoped the medicine she was bringing him would do the trick!

- - - - -

When Bulma arrived where the others were, she wasn't at all pleased by what she saw. Goku had gone super Saiyan already, but he looked really pale and drained. jinzouningen Nineteen had strange, dark blotches all over his face. Bulma assumed that they were the results of hits from Goku. She landed next to Gohan and Piccolo, and she resumed time's flow.

"I'm back," she said, looking at Piccolo and frowning. "What did I miss?"

"Did you get that medicine?" Yamucha asked anxiously. "I think we're going to need it, Bulma. Goku's really not doing well at all."

"We may not have much time, so I'll make this short," Piccolo said quickly. "Goku and the jinzouningen fought for a little while, and neither one gained much ground on the other. Then Goku went super Saiyan, and although we thought he had the upper hand, he's been rapidly losing strength ever since. You can sense him as well as we can. He's barely stronger now than he was as a normal Saiyan. Whatever it is that's eating him, it's sapping him fast."

"We learned something about the jinzouningen too," Tenshinhan said quietly. "Goku fired a Kamehameha at him, and Nineteen raised his hand and just absorbed the chi energy into it. Gero told us that they store energy that way. They suck it in through their hands and use it as their fuel source, so now we know that energy blasts are useless."

"So that's what he was up to," Bulma said, realizing something.

"What was that?" Kuririn asked.

"Before you guys came to help me," Bulma began, "Gero tried something weird. He grabbed my face with his right hand and lifted me into the air. I stopped time and broke free before he had a chance to do anything else, but I'll bet he was going to drain my energy. If they can absorb it directly, then they can probably tap into it while it's still inside us too. Don't let them get a hold on you," she said, baring her teeth at Gero, who smirked at her from the opposite end of the field, "or that might just happen to you."

"What about my dad?" Gohan said frantically. "We can't let them do that to him! Look at him! He can barely keep that thing off of him!"

He was right. If Goku had looked tired before, it was nothing compared to the fatigue they could see in him now. It was painful to watch. Nineteen was really giving him a beating, and Goku was so worn down that he no longer seemed able to even defend himself, let alone fight back. As Bulma found herself thinking that the next hit might send Goku to unconsciousness, she saw Nineteen deliver a devastating blow to Goku's chest. Goku was knocked backward, and he landed on his back. His hair immediately changed from gold to its usual black, and he didn't move again. He had been knocked out cold.

Bulma's gaze shifted from Goku back to jinzouningen Nineteen. It was over. Goku had been beaten. There was nothing left for them to do but to retrieve him from the battlefield and take over the fight. On a signal from Gero, Nineteen walked over to Goku and picked him up by the front of his gi. Bulma knew that whatever was coming was not going to be in Goku's best interests, so with a silent growl, she began making a beeline for Nineteen and Goku. Whatever that thing had in mind, he wasn't going to get to do it!

When Bulma had gotten only halfway there, the scene before her changed so suddenly and abruptly that she found herself screeching to a halt, just so that she could figure out what had happened. Jinzouningen Nineteen was no longer standing where he had been only a moment before. Goku had fallen to the ground and landed on his stomach, and there was a new figure standing over him, his fist still extended from the punch he had delivered to Goku's aggressor. Bulma's eyes opened wide as she realized who it was that had just saved Goku's skin.

"Vegita," she breathed softly, staring in awe at him and not quite daring to believe her eyes.

"No one shall kill Kakarrot while I am here," he said coldly, glaring at jinzouningen Nineteen, who had been knocked a full twenty feet away and was just now beginning to pick himself up off the ground. "That is a pleasure that I have reserved for myself."

"Vegita!" Kuririn gasped. "He's back!"

Vegita lifted Goku by the back of his gi and tossed him indifferently to Gohan and the others. "I suggest you take him elsewhere," he said coldly, without looking at them. "He's in my way."

Bulma thought that was a very good idea. "Yamucha," she called back at him. "Here!" She tossed the pill bottle to him, which he caught in his left hand. "Give Goku a couple of those and fly him home! Then come back when you can!"

"Right Bulma!" Yamucha called back, nodding and rushing over to Goku's side, opening the bottle as he went.

"No one is taking him anywhere!" Gero said sternly. "He will finish his fight with Nineteen right here and now!"

"He already has finished his fight," Bulma retorted, her voice calm and collected, but her eyes flashing dangerously, "and anyone who says otherwise is welcome to dispute the matter with me!"

Gero sneered at her. "Is that a challenge, my dear?" he said, his voice giving proof to his hope that it was. "I would dearly love a chance to finish what I started with you earlier. You may have slipped out of my grasp before, but make no mistake; I'll have my satisfaction yet. Your little friends can't save you forever, and when all of them are out of my way, I'll give you the same death I've reserved for your father - a slow, excruciating, humiliating torture that will leave you begging me to kill you and put you out of your misery. I'll allow you to beg for a time, and when I tire of your screams of agony and despair, I'll mercifully grant you your plaintive request by destroying all of Capsule Corporation, with you and your foolish parents at ground zero. It will be a glorious spectacle indeed! Still," he added, grinning smugly at her, "even the destruction of that infernal corporation won't be as satisfying as the slow death I'll administer to you and your dimwitted father. I can't wait to hear what sounds you'll make as I shatter every bone in your wretched bodies!"

Bulma glanced at Vegita, and she noticed the way he had screwed up his face as he tried to restrain the terrible rage that Gero's words had stirred in him. She shot Gero a crafty smile and shook her head.

"I have a feeling you'll never get that chance," she said silkily. "Much as I'd like to give you the good, sound beating you deserve, it appears that I'm not your opponent just yet, my good Doctor. You see, Son-kun was at a disadvantage. The only reason he didn't pulverize jinzouningen Nineteen was the fact that he has contracted a debilitating heart disease that has steadily been sapping his strength. I've got news for you, though. Goku isn't the only pure-blooded Saiyan you have to deal with, and unlike Goku, Vegita doesn't have a heart disease."

Gero sneered at her, and after shooting a nonchalant glance at Vegita, he resumed sneering at her. "So you've resorted to hiding behind yet another one of your little flunkies, eh?" he chuckled. "I don't give a damn about some alien race, you mouthy twerp! I have designed Nineteen and myself to be stronger than anything any of you could ever dream of! I witnessed for myself that whole 'super Saiyan' farce you built up so much. Feh! It was nothing but a showy display of color. Son Goku was still defeated by Nineteen, even after he did 'transform.'"

"You vastly underestimate the true power of a Saiyan," Vegita growled at him, "if you dare claim that the pitiful way Kakarrot fought your little toy is indicative of my race's greatest potential. With or without that ridiculous disease, Kakarrot is no longer the strongest. I have at last surpassed him. Behold, jinzouningen bastards! Behold the harbinger of your destruction!"

He began to power up dramatically, and as he hunched over and the growling rumble in his throat gave way to a solid yell, his chi aura swelled and began to dig a sizable crater in the ground around him. Soon the sound of this massive geological disruption had progressed to a fine roar, and Bulma - as well as all of the others - began to notice that Vegita's chi aura had turned quite yellow in color. His hair bristled and began to flicker, and finally, as his chi aura flashed an electric gold, his hair changed color to match, and the transformation was complete. Vegita stood fully erect again, glaring impressively through harsh, blue eyes at his adversary as he began to slowly scale the steep slope of the crater he was in.

"H-he's become one too!" Bulma heard Gohan say. "I can't believe it! But Dad said that you had to be pure of heart to become a Super Saiyan! He can't even transform unless he's completely focused!"

"Oh, rest assured," Vegita said, without even dignifying him with so much as a glance. "My heart _is_ pure. Pure evil." He stood at the edge of the crater and glared defiantly at Gero. Then he turned and shot the same glare at Nineteen, who hadn't advanced an inch from where he'd fallen.

"How did it happen?" Bulma asked quietly, staring at him with her breath all but taken away. She couldn't believe the sheer waves of power bombarding her senses.

"My theory had been correct," Vegita replied, turning briefly to glance at her and nod - the first time he'd acknowledged her since his arrival. "The training I had undergone in this environment was not sufficient to produce the initial transformation. It was only when I once again discovered the taste of mortal danger that it became possible for me to achieve my ultimate goal. All that time spent training here was not wasted either, for I am much more powerful than Kakarrot ever was; I had to go much farther to transform, because I had gone so far beforehand. Kakarrot first transformed when he was barely powerful enough to bring it about. I didn't undergo the necessary trial until I had already built up a tremendous amount of strength without it. Kakarrot's transformation occurred because Freeza had the unfortunate luck to trigger the only action that would bring it about. The fool only allowed himself to get sufficiently angry after Freeza killed you.

"Thus," he continued, "he was the first. There are but three requirements to becoming a Super Saiyan, and I have discovered all three, through my own efforts. The first is that you must have a minimum level of power for it to occur at all. My guess is that it should be somewhere around one hundred thousand or so scouter degrees, since that was my estimate of Kakarrot on Namek. That was the first requirement. I'm rather surprised that the idiot managed to realize what the second was, but he was right. You must have a calm heart. There is only room for one focus of your existence. Anything else will only distract you and hinder the transformation. Third, and most important, is your anger. There must be a tremendous amount of anger. It has to be great enough to consume your very mind, and all but drive you mad."

"What could make you so angry?" Bulma asked, fighting mightily against the urge to shed tears of joy. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life, and that was saying something, considering all the times she'd been saved narrowly by the sudden appearance of so many of her friends.

Vegita scowled. "The thought that fueled such anger in me was simply this: that Kakarrot, that ridiculous bastard and insufferable idiot, could stumble into this, and that I, Vegita, prince of the proud Saiyan race, his superior in every respect - I, with all my unbelievable power - could not manage it. The thought that had before been unacceptable had eventually become my reality, and it brought me anger - it brought me such terrible, unforgiving, maddening fury that I just wanted it to explode within me and destroy me entirely. It very nearly did, but instead of destroying me, it tapped into my greatest power and highest potential. At long last, I had become the Super Saiyan.

"And now," he said at last, turning and facing Nineteen with deadly menace in his cold gaze. "I have finally returned to claim my place as the strongest warrior in the universe. All who stand in my way shall perish. You," he said, pointing to Nineteen, "and you," he added, pointing to Gero, "are both in my way. You will both die this day."

Gero raised one end of his mouth in a derisive sneer. "Bold words, Saiyan," he said caustically, "but they won't save you. You're no match for either of us."

"The one called Yamucha is leaving with Son Goku," Nineteen called to him. "Shall I stop them, Twenty?"

"No, we will go after them later," Gero replied to him. "Take care of this one first, Nineteen, but be careful. He's right about one thing; he is much stronger than Son Goku was."

"Energy attacks won't work, Vegita," Bulma warned him. "They just absorb them and use them as a power source. You'll have to destroy him with your bare hands."

"A simple matter," Vegita said coldly, "and perhaps even more satisfying."

As Vegita and jinzouningen Nineteen faced off, Bulma retreated quietly to the rest of her group. They could all see that, even though she was trying to hide it, she was terribly excited and happy to see Vegita back, and in such prime form. She was so excited, in fact, that she had to fight hard to resist the urge to stop time just to jump for joy and whoop and cry out with glee. She was nearly giddy in her happiness, and it was written all over her face.

"This is unbelievable!" Gohan breathed. "Not to mention a great stroke of luck! Do you think Vegita can win, Piccolo-san?"

Piccolo studied Vegita and Nineteen for a few moments, and he just grinned and shook his head. "Hell, I don't know, kid," he chuckled. "There's just no telling when it comes to Super Saiyans. It seems that, even as a Super Saiyan, a Saiyan's power can be considerably low, but Briefs was right about one thing; Vegita doesn't have any heart disease to fight against. What's more, I've never sensed anything so incredible. Not even your father felt like this. I don't know if Vegita's actually become the stronger of the two, or if Son simply hasn't used his max before, but either way, our one hope may very well rest with Vegita. Let's just hope that, for all his showy posturing, he can manage to pull it off."

"I think he can," Bulma said excitedly, watching Vegita with eyes that shone. "No; I take it back. I _know_ he can!"

They all watched as Vegita and Nineteen began to fight, and it was obvious from the very beginning that Vegita had Nineteen outclassed, outmatched, and outdone in every way. Vegita knew it, too. That was one reason why he chose not to destroy his adversary right away. Instead, he toyed with him a little, and he didn't use his full strength while he faced him. Bulma knew he was doing this, and although there were no words to express the joy she felt at seeing him back, she did not approve of the way he was fighting. She frowned as she watched him block blow after blow from Nineteen, but never hit him with any serious kicks or punches of his own. It was really not very attractive in her eyes, but it did seem like just the thing Vegita would do.

"I wish he'd just go ahead and defeat the thing," Bulma grumbled to the others. "He's acting just like Freeza, toying with him like that. That's one thing I just can't stand about him."

They all nodded. "Besides," Piccolo said with a disapproving frown. "He still has Gero to deal with after this one. He should be reserving his strength."

Gero must have heard him, because he laughed derisively. "He is, my friends, he is, and that's all the better for Nineteen, as you shall soon see."

In a matter of moments, they all saw what Gero must have been talking about. In a quick, neat little maneuver, Nineteen latched onto Vegita's wrists when he raised his arms to block the next blow. Then he began to laugh gleefully at him.

"I have you now, Vegita!" he cackled. "Do you feel it? That's me sapping your energy! I'm draining your strength! Your chi energy is becoming my nutrition, and in a matter of minutes, you won't even be able to move, while I'll be several times stronger than I was before!"

"Vegita!" Bulma cried, tensing as she prepared to lunge into the fray. Piccolo grabbed her by the arm and held it firmly.

"Hold it," he said quietly. "Didn't you notice? Vegita let him do that. He's up to something, Briefs. Let him try it."

"That damn fool," she said quietly through gritted teeth. "Sometimes I just can't stand the cocky way he fights!"

Cocky was the correct term, because the smirk on Vegita's face was nothing less. "Oh, really?" he jeered at Nineteen. "Then perhaps I ought to make your meal a little more challenging for you!" He leapt upwards and, faster than any of them could see, planted his feet on either side of Nineteen's face.

"What say we test your grip, jinzouningen?" he cried, and he began to push on Nineteen's face with his feet.

Suddenly Bulma cracked an angry grin. Laughing sardonically, she shook her head. "That cocky jerk!" she chuckled angrily. "He spent all of a minute testing Nineteen, and now he's assumed that, even with his opponent draining his energy, he can simply push his pudgy little head off with his feet! Damn him!" She wasn't grinning anymore. Now she was grinding her teeth, and furiously at that.

Kuririn backed away from her a little bit. Bulma was already giving off a good deal of anger energy. He had learned from past experience that being in her vicinity in that situation never brought him good fortune.

"But look at Nineteen," Gohan gasped. "He looks like he's really struggling!"

It was true. Nineteen's face was being squashed farther and farther, but even though he was in obvious pain, he just refused to let go of Vegita's wrists. A few seconds later, though, the point became moot. Vegita poured on an incredible surge of energy, and he pushed nearly twice as hard as he had been. The result was indeed surprising. He didn't knock Nineteen's head off. Instead, he ripped both his hands off!

Nineteen fell backwards, crying out in agony. Vegita did a handspring and landed on his feet. He pried the mechanical hands from his wrists and flung them carelessly behind him.

"Feh," he snorted dismissively. "I hope the other one isn't as disappointing as you." He smirked evilly at jinzouningen Nineteen. "Are you prepared to meet whatever fate meets one of your kind when it dies?" he jeered at him. "I wonder... do jinzouningen feel fear? Why don't you indulge me before I blast you into oblivion!"

Shrieking in terror, Nineteen scrambled to his feet and began to run. Vegita's smirk widened. "So you _do_ feel fear!" he laughed heartily at his fleeing adversary. "Well, feel this!" He curled his lips up into a cruel sneer, and after pausing for only a moment to gather his energy, flung an extremely potent chi blast at the back of jinzouningen Nineteen.

"_No_!" Gero shouted, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth as he realized that nearly a full decade of work was about to go up in smoke before his very eyes.

His cry fell on deaf ears, however. It was too late; Vegita's aim had been true. In a brilliant flash of light, the chi blast hit Nineteen in the back and exploded, almost entirely obliterating him – with one exception. A single object sailed out of the dust cloud and landed on the ground at Gero's feet. It was Nineteen's head, and it was all that remained of him.

Gero, now shaking with rage and disbelief, glared up at Vegita with a look of pure hatred. "You," he growled shakily. "You…"

Vegita smirked mildly at him and reverted to his normal, non-super state. "Well look at that," he said tauntingly. "Your little toy has left me weakened. Now's your chance to destroy me and avenge him. What say you give it a try, old man? Far be it from me to deny you the pleasure of your revenge."

Gero glared at Vegita with obvious hatred and revulsion. Apparently his plan had not taken the abilities of a healthy Super Saiyan into account after all. He must not have decided it wise to take advantage of Vegita's offer, because instead of attacking, he shook his head and began to chuckle sinisterly.

"You are indeed quite an adversary," he said, sounding genuinely impressed. "I had not anticipated one such as yourself, but fate has not counted me out yet. You see, Nineteen and I are not the only artificial humans I've created, and we are certainly not the most powerful. Listen well, all of you!" he called loudly. "Enjoy this brief reprieve while it lasts! When I awaken Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou, you will all die - even you, my Saiyan friend!" With that he shot off for the mountains, and within seconds he was out of sight.

"Geez, he sure is fast," Kuririn said, shading his eyes and trying to catch one more glimpse of Gero. "You don't suppose he's really serious, do you?"

"I wouldn't take such a threat lightly," Bulma said through gritted teeth. "He didn't have the eyes of a man defeated. He's got another ace up his sleeve for sure, and if we give him a chance to pull it, we might not have such great odds. I say we give chase and destroy him now. If we give him a chance to wake up some more of those monsters, it may turn out to be more than we can handle, even _with_ Vegita."

Vegita shot Bulma a resentful scowl before turning his attention toward Kuririn. "Hey, runt!" he yelled impatiently. "Give me one of those beans!"

"Wha? Why?!" Kuririn demanded, clutching the bag of Sensu beans a little more tightly.

"Just do it, Kuririn," Piccolo ordered quietly.

"Oh all right," Kuririn grumbled, fishing around in the pouch. "Here. Take it." He threw one to Vegita, who caught it and, after popping it into his mouth, immediately shot off in the direction Gero had gone.

"What do you suppose that was all about anyway?" Kuririn asked crossly. "He didn't look hurt to me. Heck, the jinzouningen didn't even leave a mark on him!"

"No, but he needed one anyway," Piccolo said, frowning and staring after Vegita, who was long out of sight by now. "Vegita was really telling the truth, although he made it look as though he was goading Gero into attacking. Nineteen really had weakened him. He'd had a good hold on Vegita's wrists for a considerable amount of time. Vegita knew that he wasn't strong enough to take on Gero, so he bluffed, and Gero didn't call him on it."

Bulma grimaced. "It was a darned smart tactic, I'll give him that. Still, if he hadn't been such an ass about things and taunted Nineteen so much before killing him, he wouldn't have been in such sorry shape."

"Yes, but now we have a slight problem," Piccolo commented. "He's gone off after Gero, but there's no way of knowing where Gero is. Those jinzouningen don't give off chi signatures. We can follow Vegita, but we may not be able to find Gero before it's too late."

"Well, we do have at least a general idea," Bulma said matter-of-factly. "He was headed in the direction of the mountains, which may mean that his lab really is out there. If we can find it before he gets there, then we'll stand a good chance of stopping him before he wakes the other two up."

"It's a bit of a long shot, but it's the only shot we have," Piccolo said, nodding in agreement. "Let's go. Everyone just fly as fast as you can. We can't afford to lose speed, since he already has such a high gain on us. That means we'll split up along the way, so keep your wits about you and don't try anything by yourselves. What Son said before still holds. We are strongest as a group."

"Right!" they all cried, springing off after Gero and Vegita. Bulma sped up alongside Piccolo and shot him a determined frown.

"I'm going to teleport on ahead and try to sneak up on Gero that way," she called to him. "Otherwise, there's no way I'll catch up to him, or even keep up with you guys. You're all just too fast."

"You do what you have to then," Piccolo grunted, nodding back at her. "Just be careful. You can't expect to be able to fight him if you can't even fly fast enough to catch up to him. Don't try to take him on yourself, Briefs, or not even a Sensu bean could be enough to bring you back."

"What I lack in strength and speed I make up for in other areas," she said with an indignant scowl. "Gero has already underestimated me; don't you do the same. Don't worry about me, though; I'll be careful!" With that, she stopped time, and she was no longer visible to him.

Piccolo gritted his teeth in frustration. Just where did she get off insinuating that he was worried about the likes of _her_? He really didn't like the way she always seemed to get the wrong idea whenever he tried to talk some sense into that thick skull of hers. No matter, though. Even if she did go and get herself killed, it was likely to do them nothing but good. Vegita wouldn't toy with the jinzouningen if that happened; he'd destroy them on sight!

A mix of emotions swirled through Bulma's mind as she raced ever closer to where she could sense Vegita. She was both delighted and astonished by the sudden and welcome appearance of her man, and although it had sent a thrill racing through her body, and had made her want to race up to him and seize him in her arms, she had been (and was now) too focused on this battle to let her joy and excitement go to her head. She had to keep a level head today. There'd be plenty of time to celebrate his return after they'd destroyed the jinzouningen. In the meantime, she was just going to have to do the best that she could to keep out of Vegita's way, and out of the path of danger. Her encounter with Gero back in Metro South had really shaken her, much as she hadn't let on to anyone, leastwise, _him_. He had attacked her with such speed and cruel precision that, had he wanted to kill her instantly, he'd have done so with no resistance from her. From now on, whenever she was around him, she was going to keep time slowed, or at least slow it when he seemed about to attack. She couldn't afford to count on the unlikely chance that she'd be able to surprise him with her time stop again; he was far too cunning for that.

Bulma ground her teeth as she quickly bridged the gap between herself and Vegita. "I'll find you, Gero," she thought with a fierce scowl, "and I'll make damn sure we put a stop to you. You can count on it!"


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67: The Real Threat Awakens**

It didn't take Bulma long to find Vegita. The chi trail he left behind as he rocketed after Gero was so fierce that it extended nearly for a half-mile behind him. Bulma knew that if she resumed time's flow as she flew alongside him, he'd simply blow past her, and he might not notice her presence in his zeal to reach his quarry. She didn't want to get in his way, but she did want to talk to him, if only for a few moments. He'd taken off too quickly for her to tell him where she suspected Gero's lab was, and besides, he needed to be made aware of the fact that Gero was sure to lay low if he sensed Vegita up above him, charging out after him like this. They had to be sneakier, or they'd never catch him in time.

Bulma flew out a good mile ahead of Vegita, and then she allowed time to flow at a crawl. As he advanced upon her, she was relieved to see the look of recognition on his face, and the scowl of annoyance as he heeded her raised hand and stopped in front of her. Bulma let time flow at its normal pace and shot him the briefest of smiles.

"Out of my way, woman," he growled at her. "Between me and my prey isn't a position most sane people would like to find themselves in."

"I know, and I'm sorry," she said hastily, "but I had to. Vegita, you're rushing into this too quickly. You don't know where Gero is going, and besides, if you zoom around so conspicuously like this, you're just going to alert him to where you are, and make him hide all the more. We need to try to sneak up on him, or we'll never catch him in time."

"And I suppose you know where he's off to, do you?" Vegita grumbled at her, his eyebrow twitching angrily at being hindered thus. "Don't think I'll stand for much more of this, woman, because I'm in no mood for games!"

"I'm trying to tell you that I _might_ know where he's going," she said impatiently. "Dad found an article about him in a scientific journal, and everything it said about him was true. The only thing I never followed up on was the place where they'd guessed Gero had set up a secret lab. I didn't want to walk into a situation I couldn't handle, so I never went looking for it. The fact that he took off in the direction of the mountains cinches it, though. He's got some kind of lab built out there, and if we can find it quickly enough, we can keep him from reaching it. Finding Gero is going to be all but impossible; he doesn't give off a chi signature, and he's deadly cunning. If we keep flying around up here, he'll simply slip past us by a route that isn't visible from the sky, and we'll be the first ones he sets his other jinzouningen loose on. I want to kill him before that happens, and I've got a plan. Are you interested in hearing it, or are you going to ignore me and go off on your own to just wait for him to outsmart us?"

Vegita let out an angry snort. "You'd better make this worth my while," he snarled. "Spit it out already. We're wasting time!"

Less than a minute later, Bulma had stopped time and was racing toward the mountain range that was mere miles away. Her jaw was set, and her eyes were peeled. She had to be as observant as possible for this task, and she knew that she had plenty of time to get it done, so there was no excuse for rushing things.

Bulma's plan was this: she was to teleport ahead and search for Gero's lab. If she found either it or Gero en route, she was to fly back to Vegita and bring him there to deal with it. Time was their greatest enemy right now, so if she could make up for what they'd already lost by doing this, it would be a great help. She only hoped that the lab would be easier to locate than Gero had been so far. Even if she _was_ a genius, she wasn't going to be able to find what she couldn't see.

Bulma made an exhaustive search of the dozen or so major mountains in the range, and although she thought she had come close on several occasions, she never once found anything that could have been the concealed entrance to a secret laboratory. Likewise, she never found Gero, either.

She was considering the possibility of searching again, when something occurred to her that made her bite her lip anxiously. Perhaps that journal had been wrong. Maybe Gero's lab really wasn't out here, and he had only headed this way to throw them off of the trail. What could they do if that was the case, though? She had no idea where else one _would_ hide a secret laboratory in this part of the world. The mountains were surrounded on nearly all sides by desert, and the only side with any green was densely populated. Gero might have been tempted to hide in plain sight, but something told her that a malicious man like him would have been discovered sooner or later, as he'd be likely to do more than simply scare off anyone who got too close.

Deciding that searching just wasn't achieving what she wanted, Bulma sighed and flew back to Vegita. She had no choice. They were simply going to have to do things in another way.

"It's no use," she muttered when she resumed time after she'd returned to where she'd left him. "I can't find anything out there that even comes close to what I'd expect to see. Either he's hidden it extremely well and I'm just not good enough to find it, or it's not out there at all. I can't help thinking that it might be easier to find Gero than his lab, after all. At least he's bound to be out moving somewhere. Still, I didn't find him either. I'm open to suggestions, Vegita. My plan failed, and there's nothing I can say to excuse it."

"Never mind," he said gruffly. "It's not as though you wasted a great deal of time, even if you did waste more energy than was needed. I'll at least give you this much, though; your idea of being less conspicuous as we search is less pitiful than I'd expect from you. We shall search on the ground, with our power suppressed. Perhaps we'll have the good fortune of discovering the old fool before he wakes his other toys, but either way, he won't survive this day, and neither will his other creations. As a matter of fact, I'm rather pleased with this turn of events. I'd prefer that he _did_ wake up another couple of jinzouningen for me to smash. Let him wake his feeble toys. All of them will soon see how meaningless their weak, fake little lives are!"

"Vegita," Bulma said with a scowl, "that's just stupid. Taking unnecessary risks won't guarantee us victory; killing Gero before he wakes up the other two will. We need to find him and fast, or we might end up over our heads here. I know you're all fired up now that you've come back, and believe me; I'm so excited to see you that I can't stand it. But just the same," she added, crossing her arms and frowning as she looked down at the ground below them, "something about the way Gero looked when he told us about his other two jinzouningen makes me really nervous. The man's not an idiot, Vegita. He watched every move you made when you fought Nineteen, and if he thinks these other two jinzouningen can beat you, then they very well might be able to."

"You'll soon feel foolish for underestimating me like that," Vegita growled in an irritated tone of voice. "I've heard enough. We're wasting time here anyway, so perhaps you'd prefer to do something more constructive with your time than spending it whining at me. We will resume searching for that mechanical fool. I'll take the western half of the mountains, and you will cover the east. Find me and bring me to him if you discover him; I forbid you to confront him alone!"

Without another word, Vegita dropped to the ground and took off at a blindingly fast run for the westernmost mountains in the range. Sighing dejectedly, Bulma followed suit and headed for the eastern half. She hoped that if Vegita did find Gero, he'd just do away with him immediately. She couldn't help worrying about how that insufferable pride of his might be his undoing one of these days.

- - - - -

Bulma had only been searching for some ten minutes when she began to sense the approach of Piccolo and Gohan. Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu were some distance behind them, and beyond _them_ was another, somewhat familiar power that she couldn't quite recognize. Bulma stood stock still as she focused on this strange power, and she studied it with a confused, irritated frown on her face.

"Who _is_ that?" she muttered. "It can't be Yamucha... I know it's not Goku, either. It feels so familiar, though... I wish I knew who it was."

She was still musing aloud when Piccolo and Gohan flew overhead, and she leapt up into the air to join them. "Hey!" she called out to them, beckoning them toward her. "Come here for a second, you two!"

Gohan turned and flew toward her, but Piccolo seemed less eager to do as she asked so obediently. He made a point of scowling at her as he grudgingly turned and followed Gohan.

"What is it, Bulma?" Gohan asked her. "Did you and Vegita find Gero, yet?"

"No," she admitted. "I've done an exhaustive search of the mountains in halted time too, and I've been unable to locate anything that even remotely resembles a lab. We've seen neither hide nor hair of Gero, and I'm beginning to get worried that he shot off in this direction just to throw us off his trail. Vegita's searching the western half of the mountains, and I've been searching the east. You guys are welcome to join in, naturally."

"We'd better get going, then," Piccolo grunted. "Kid, you head out that way." He pointed off in the direction where they could sense Vegita. "Stay out of Vegita's way, but don't ignore him, either. It's likely that if he finds Gero, things are liable to get explosive around here, and you won't want to get too close."

"Right, Piccolo-san!" Gohan exclaimed, nodding and dutifully flying off to carry out his sensei's orders.

"What are you going to do, Piccolo?" Bulma asked. "D'you have any plans you could throw my way? I haven't made a lick of headway out here so far, and I'm open to suggestions."

"I'm going to search in this vicinity," Piccolo grunted. "Gero must have been heading this way, because there isn't anywhere else around here to hide that makes any sense. If you can't figure out what to do, you might try bringing the others here so that they can help us search. More eyes will mean fewer places for that thing to hide in."

Bulma grimaced at Piccolo's caustic dig at her incompetence. "Fine," she sniffed angrily. "I guess that's a good idea. See you later, Piccolo." She vanished instantly, and Piccolo allowed himself a light smirk. Perhaps she wasn't as thick-skulled as she could be. At least she was beginning to realize how useless she was by herself.

Although they hadn't been aware of it, Gohan, Bulma, and Piccolo were being watched. Gero weighed his options as he stared critically at the three adversaries in the clearing beyond his hiding place in the bushes. He knew that something had to be done. He couldn't just flee to his lab now that so many gawkers had come to find him. He had to use other means of securing his safety, and he had just realized what means that would be. In order to become strong enough to defeat Vegita, he'd have to make himself stronger, and very much so. In order to do that, he was going to have to absorb a large amount of energy. So who should he drain first? Should he focus on the boy, the girl, or the Namek?

The boy seemed the least likely of them to give him any trouble, as he was weaker than the Namek, but unable to spirit himself around like the girl. However, his weakness only made him a less desirable target. Gero needed chi energy, and lots of it. The girl didn't have enough either. It appeared that his first target should be the Namek. Now, how was he going to manage this? If the girl saw him attack the Namek, she'd simply knock him away and possibly blow his plan. Wait a minute... the boy was leaving. Good. That made things easier. If he could incapacitate the girl and latch onto the Namek quickly enough, he ought not have much trouble.

Gero was about to leave the cover of the bushes when all at once, Bulma disappeared. She had left! He grinned a cruel grin as he realized that they had made his task all too easy. His prey was just waiting to be taken!

Bulma tried to ignore the nagging uneasiness she was feeling as she raced out toward Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu. They were all in a fairly close grouping not far off, but not far beyond _them_ was that strange power she had sensed before. In all her eagerness to fill Piccolo and Gohan in on the situation, she'd forgotten to ask them what they had made of their strange follower. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it, though. She had to get these three out to the mountains to help with the searching.

When she did reach them, Bulma wondered for a moment how she was going to get them all in one trip. If she wasn't careful, she might injure their limbs or knock them into one another too much in flight. Two people were easy to carry, but three was a little trickier. Finally, she came upon a happy bit of brilliance, and she allowed time to flow again.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed as she quickly took up a position alongside Kuririn. "Would you like a quick transport out to the mountains?"

"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you on up ahead?"

"We're having some difficulty finding Gero, and Piccolo thinks that if we all search, we'll have better odds," she told him. "I'm here to take you guys out there, only I need to conserve my energy, so I want to do it in one trip. Come on; join me on the ground for a sec. I need to do something before I take you out there."

They all did as she asked, and they watched with interest as Bulma quickly opened her boot flap and took out her capsule case. After removing a small capsule from it and quickly replacing the case in her boot, she punched the button on it and tossed it out in front of them. It popped open to reveal a small, convertible cruiser, big enough to seat four.

"Hop inside," she ordered, grinning as she pointed at the seats in the open-air vehicle. "This way I can take you guys there without knocking you around too much!"

"Heh-heh! Looks like we're riding to the mountains in style, boys!" Kuririn laughed as he quickly hopped into the driver's seat. "Nice going, Bulma! This way I won't be so dizzy when you bring us out of it!"

Bulma shot him another grin, but she folded her arms impatiently as Tenshinhan and Chaozu got into the cruiser and laughed along with Kuririn. "Buckle up, okay?" she asked them. "I don't want to run the risk of flipping you guys out of there along the way. Don't worry; I'll unbuckle you before I let time start again, so there won't be anyone ambushing you."

They did as she asked, and when everyone was buckled and ready to go, she stopped time again and lifted one side of the car. She was glad that it was one of the smaller ones; it wasn't more than she could handle, but one of the larger vans might have become a little annoying after a while. She hefted the car up onto her back and took to the air, flying carefully but quickly back to the mountains.

When Bulma returned to the place where she had left Piccolo, she dropped the car in her surprise. Gero had his legs wrapped around Piccolo's waist from behind, and he had one hand clamped over the Namek's mouth, and an evil grin on his insufferable face. He was doing something unpleasant, and judging from the strained, angry expression on Piccolo's face, it was also something very painful. Bulma forgot all about Kuririn, Tenshinhan and Chaozu, and she immediately shot over to Piccolo's aid, wrenching Gero's limbs off of him and shoving him away. Without thinking once about the consequences, she let time flow again and immediately formed a fist-sized tokidan. As she belted Gero in the face with her super-hard projectile, several things happened at once. The car she had been toting the boys in dropped awkwardly onto the ground and flipped over, surprising its unfortunate passengers and causing them to struggle out of their seat belts in an effort to escape their uncomfortable surroundings. Piccolo let out a great gasp and dropped shakily onto one knee, and Gero let out a surprised grunt as Bulma's tokidan slammed into his nose and knocked him backward.

"At last you've come out of hiding!" Bulma snarled, panting a little as a rush of adrenaline bombarded her body with a fresh surge of power. "I had a feeling you were coming this way, Gero. It looks like you really do have a lab out here somewhere. Well, it's too late! We've found you out, and it's only a matter of time now before Vegita gets here and destroys you!"

"Little wretch!" Gero spat, fingering his dented nose and glowering at her. "How dare you interfere? You shall pay dearly for this!"

Bulma didn't hesitate this time. Immediately she slowed time, and she was none too soon. Gero made a rapid lunge at her, and she only narrowly darted out of his way in time to avoid the punch he had aimed at her face. He quickly whirled around to catch her in the back of the head with the ball of his foot, but she leaped over it and planted her hands upon his leg as she swung her body upwards. She swept one leg through the air to counterbalance her next move, and then she snapped the other leg around, savagely kicking the side of his face. She pushed off of him just in time to avoid having her leg seized by his grabbing hands, and she did several handsprings as she darted away from him. She bolstered herself as solidly as she could as he charged at her, and she quickly resumed time's flow and formed another tokidan.

That had been a grave mistake. She had misjudged his speed terribly, and she hadn't left herself nearly enough room to act. She had only enough time to form the small ball of slowed space-time before he was upon her. With a savage yell, he kicked her viciously in the side, sending her crashing into a nearby tree and uprooting it completely as she bounced off of its trunk, her collision making a terrific cracking sound as it crunched the wood of the falling tree. She fell to the ground, but she barely had time to gasp before he had pounced on her, and immediately he landed a fierce stomp onto her chest, shattering her ribs as though they were matchsticks. Bulma's eyes opened wide, and she tried to scream, but he had forced all the air from her lungs.

Realizing that he had at last incapacitated her, Gero kicked one foot underneath her side before neatly tossing her up into the air with it, seizing her neck in one hand as it came up to be level with his shoulder. "I suppose I'll have to settle for draining your chi instead," he said with a smug grin. "You've blown my chances with the Namek, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of making sure you meet a sticky end before I have to deal with that annoying Vegita. Come along, my dear! We're going for a ride!" Before Piccolo or the others had recovered themselves enough to come to her aid, Gero bolted into the trees, dragging Bulma behind him by the simple hold he had on her neck.

As they raced through the forest, Bulma could feel - among other discomforts relating to her injuries and being jostled so violently in his flight - the agonizing, searing sensation of being drained of her energy through his grip on her neck. She wanted desperately to fight him, or to at least slow him down, but as it was, she was already loopy and weakened from her injuries. Damn it all... if only she'd stopped to consider her actions before attacking him. She should have gone and retrieved Vegita instead of trying to stall Gero like this.

"You don't have much left," Gero chuckled at her as he felt her strength flicker and dwindle feebly in its dying gasps. "I think I'll make a show for the others as I dispose of you properly!" He leaped up high above the tops of the trees and tossed her into the air above him like a rag doll. "Farewell, foolish girl!" he laughed cruelly, firing a devastating blast at her. He grinned evilly as he watched his deadly beam streak through the air at his helpless victim. His grin was premature, however, and he realized this very fact when a dark streak intercepted the path of his beam just before it was to connect with its target. Instead of obliterating the girl, the blast continued on harmlessly into the sky, and Gero let out a snarl of anger as he realized that he'd been thwarted, and she'd been rescued by someone. He turned to face this new adversary and was surprised to find that it wasn't Vegita who had delivered her from her doom. Rather, it was a new face – a young boy wearing a denim jacket and dark clothing. He had a sword strapped to his back, but even more noteworthy was the presence of the Capsule Corporation emblem on his jacket. His power felt insignificant, but that could mean anything, with most capable fighters' ability to mask their true strength. The boy was cradling her limp body in his arms, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at him, and the look on his face was both astonished and angry.

"I don't know what connection you have to that girl or to the Capsule Corporation," Gero yelled up at him, "but it makes no difference in the end! Your efforts were remarkably swift, but they were in vain, nonetheless. You may have spared her from my blast, but you've only prolonged her suffering! She will still die from her injuries, and I will still destroy you, along with the rest of that infernal corporation and its allies!"

"I don't know who you are, old man," the boy called out to him, "but I won't forgive you for this! When I've seen to it that Mother has healed, I'll come after you, and I _will_ destroy you!" With that, the boy was off like a bolt of lightning, so far away in the blink of an eye that it was as if he hadn't been there at all.

Gero had only briefly registered a spike in his power sensor, but its intensity made him pale with shock. That boy was a behemoth of strength! He almost seemed on par with Vegita! This was very bad. He was going to have to wake up Eighteen and Seventeen after all. Damn it all... he had hoped against hope that he could avoid involving those willful brats in this. He wondered if they'd actually obey him for once and destroy these pests before they rebelled against him. He had no other options left. Vegita was already making his way across the mountains toward him. It was now or never.

It only took Trunks seconds to bring Bulma to where Piccolo, Kuririn, and the others had gathered, but that didn't matter much; he was frantic with anxiety. If she died here, what would happen to the future? What had he done? He landed in the midst of the confused group, and he immediately demanded to know if anyone had any Sensu beans.

"What the?!" Tenshinhan gasped. "It's that kid from the future!"

"And he's got Bulma with him!" Kuririn gasped. "Hang on, kid; I've got some right here! Let's hurry, before we're too late!"

Weak with relief, Trunks immediately rushed to Kuririn's side, and he tried to keep his arms from shaking too badly as the monk carefully poked the life-giving curative into Bulma's open mouth. They all waited patiently to see if they had been in time to save her. Bulma was nearly past the brink; she was so weak now that they could barely sense her chi at all.

Although she was now unconscious, Bulma's throat was gulping uncontrollably in its efforts to clear a path through her blood-filled bronchial tubes to let in some much-needed air. She swallowed the Sensu whole, and within moments, she came careening back to her senses, gasping as her shattered bones knit themselves in mere moments, and her lungs filled rapidly with blessed oxygen. She gave a start and her eyes popped open, and she stared up in surprise at the one in whose arms she was now reclining.

"It's you!" she exclaimed, realizing at last that it was the person whom she had sensed earlier, and forgetting all else. "You're the one who came to warn us! The super Saiyan from the future!"

"Thank Kami," he sighed, setting Bulma down onto her feet and shaking his head. "I thought for sure I had come too late. How in the world did Father ever let this happen to you?"

"Huh?" Bulma asked in surprise. "Father? You mean your father? Is he here too?"

"Tell her who you are, Trunks," Piccolo muttered in an irritated growl, "but do it quickly. Gero has shot back down into the trees, and he's headed for his lab to wake up the other two jinzouningen, no doubt. Kuririn, you go see if you can find where he is. Gohan, you go with him. I've been weakened too much to be much use to you now."

"Right, Piccolo," Kuririn replied. "Here. Eat this if you wanna. You'll probably need it eventually anyway if you can't fight." He tossed him a Sensu bean before he and Gohan took off toward the place where they'd all seen Gero dip down into the trees on the adjacent mountain.

"Wait a minute," Bulma demanded. "What did you say his name was, Piccolo?"

"My name is Trunks," the boy answered for him, lowering his eyes and shuffling uncomfortably. "I suppose Son Goku must have told him who I was. At least he didn't tell you."

"Trunks?" Bulma gasped. "But that doesn't make any sense! That name couldn't possibly be so commonly used!"

"It isn't," the boy said with a sheepish grin. "I've certainly never met another person with that name, and it usually gets me a few strange looks when I introduce myself."

"You mean to tell me that you're... you're..."

"He's a weakling," Vegita snorted as he landed beside them, nearly scaring Bulma half to death. "Anyone who'd let that pitiful mechanical junk heap get the better of him can't be anything but!"

"Vegita!" Bulma exclaimed, gripping his arm and pointing at Trunks with wide, astonished eyes. "This boy is our son!"

"What the devil are you babbling about now, woman?" Vegita snapped at her, glaring at Trunks as though this was all his fault. "Have you scrambled your brains? Our son shouldn't even be able to walk yet!"

"No, I mean he's our son from the future!" Bulma snapped back. "Use your head, you twit! He's from the future, and his name is Trunks! He's a super Saiyan! He's... he's future Trunks!"

For the briefest of moments, Vegita looked as though he'd just been punched in the gut. He stared at Trunks with unqualified disbelief, but remarkably, his composure wasn't gone for long. "Feh. I don't have time for this," he growled, shaking Bulma's hand off of his arm and stalking away from them. "That old coward was here, wasn't he? I saw him with my own eyes when he attacked you out there. I've no interest in jawing with you cretins when I could be destroying that mechanical menace!" Without another word, he took to the air and shot out toward the place where Gero had disappeared.

"Bull-headed idiot," Bulma muttered angrily, shaking her head at him. "Well, I can see now why you couldn't tell us who you were, er... Trunks," she said, finding the name difficult to use on someone who seemed so unlike her pudgy little baby. "In any event, I'm glad you're here. Gero is going to try to awaken two more jinzouningen, and it'll be great to have another super Saiyan on our side, now that Goku has fallen ill and all."

"Please, tell me what's going on," Trunks begged her. "Everything's all wrong! I passed by what looked like a battlefield earlier, and I found the remains of what must have been a jinzouningen, but it wasn't one of the ones I know from my time! That man who attacked you – that was really Dr. Gero?"

"Yes, it was," she said, arching an eyebrow at his claim about Nineteen. "You mean you've never seen him before either?"

"No," he replied. "The two jinzouningen I know aren't anything like either of them. They both look like teenagers, and one is a blond girl, and the other is a black-haired boy. They're incredibly powerful, but they look like normal teenagers. The only thing that sets them apart as far as appearance are those eyes... I'll never forget those terribly cold and heartless eyes of theirs."

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing that you neglected to tell Son what the jinzouningen you know look like," Piccolo grunted, cricking his neck as his Sensu bean restored his strength. "It seems several things you told us have been a little skewed. Son didn't come down with any symptoms of his illness until our fight today, for one thing. Either your estimates were a little off, or something strange is going on here."

"I know; it's all so mixed up," Trunks replied, gritting his teeth. "Mother told me that since the jinzouningen in our time were still around, it could mean that you lost the battle here even with Son Goku. However, I'm beginning to think that something else is going on."

"Well, in any event, we don't have time to worry about it now," Tenshinhan broke in. "Kuririn's power is spiking. I think that means that he's found Gero. Come on; we have to go to where he is and lend a hand."

"I'm going to do more than lend a hand," Bulma growled angrily. "I have a bit of a score to settle with that psycho. I hope you don't resent this, Trunks, but I need to borrow your sword for a few minutes. I'll meet you guys up ahead." Before anyone could reply, she stopped time and drew the sword from its sheath on Trunks' back. She then made a beeline for the place where she could sense Kuririn's chi. She only hoped she'd be in time to make a difference.

Minutes later, she had found Kuririn, and Gohan was with him, too. They were standing on an outcropping of rock on one side of a wide gorge. Kuririn was hovering in the air, and he was glowing slightly. His eyes were closed and his fists were clenched, but his expression was one of deep concentration, not pain or anxiety. Gohan was standing beside him, and he was staring fiercely at something across the gorge. Bulma turned to see what he was staring at, and she found to her surprise that there was a small cave over there, and Gero was just barely visible inside. Two large, metal doors were halfway open in front of him. Apparently that was the entrance to his lab. The doors were exactly the same color as the surrounding rock, and if Gohan hadn't been staring at them so fiercely, she might have overlooked the entrance a second time. She felt a little stupid, even if it _was_ well-hidden. Well, it was time to rectify that, as well as all the other mistakes she'd made with Gero. This time, she was taking no chances.

"This ends now," Bulma growled, making a beeline for that cave. She landed on the rock beside Gero, and she brandished Trunks' sword menacingly. She tried to determine just how she was going to do this. Should she cut off his head? Maybe she should try stabbing him first. She glanced inside the cave as she debated the issue with herself, and all at once her attention was drawn to the lighted room inside. This was his lab. It was sure to hold all kinds of secrets about his work, as well as any flaws or weaknesses he might have. Maybe she should have a look around before she killed him. Yeah, that was a good idea, she decided.

She walked inside and looked around, staring with interest at all the equipment and blueprints which were lying all over the place. The man wasn't very organized at all... how strangely like her father. She immediately shook her head and gritted her teeth. There was no way she was going to think things like that! Gero was in no way like her dad, and she hated him. The fact that he was a slob didn't change that.

"These must be where he keeps the other jinzouningen," she mused aloud as she turned around and saw three upright pods against the wall. Each one had a small, blue porthole showing its contents, and each one had a number on the front. One of them was open, and it was the one marked with the number nineteen.

"I suppose his other jinzouningen are seventeen and eighteen," she mused aloud, walking over to the pods and staring through the translucent portholes at the shadowy figures inside. "Well, he won't get a chance to wake them up. I'll see to that."

Bulma searched all through the blueprints and schematics she could find in the untidy, cramped room, but she saw nothing that looked even remotely helpful. If she was going to find anything out, she was going to have to find it out from Gero, and she figured she had about a snowball's chance in hell of that.

All at once, a tempting idea occurred to her. She could always try to force the information out of him. As long as these jinzouningen existed, they were a threat, and until she learned how to properly dismantle them by looking at the schematics of their construction, she couldn't be sure that mere force would be enough to destroy them. There was no guarantee that even Vegita could handle it, considering the fact that Trunks himself had been unable to defeat them in his time. It would be better to be on the safe side and have some good old-fashioned technical sense on their side. She had an idea of how she wanted to do this, but she wasn't sure exactly how it would play out. It would be better to have the boys here to back her up, but she didn't have enough time to fill them in on the details before he woke up his creations. It was either now or never.

Setting her jaw, she walked over next to jinzouningen Seventeen's pod and hid behind it, out of Gero's view. She let time flow at a snail's pace, and she waited patiently as he walked inside the lab and grabbed a remote control from a little niche on the wall. The doors swung shut behind them, and then they were alone. He was inside, and he was heading for the pods. Now was the time.

Bulma stopped time again, and she walked over to him and studied him for a few moments. What would be the best way to do this? After a few moments' careful consideration, she made her decision. She raised Gero's left arm – the one with the controller in it – and as it hung suspended in stopped time, she stepped back a pace. With one deft swipe of the blade, she sliced his hand off completely. As the severed hand hung eerily in the air beside his slightly lowered arm, she took a few steps back and brandished the sword menacingly at him. Here went nothing.

Bulma allowed time to resume its course, and she watched as Gero gave a start and gasped in surprise. His hand fell with a clatter onto the cold, tile floor, and he looked up in surprise to see Bulma in his lab, brandishing a sword at him and glaring at him with eyes full of hatred and fury.

"How the devil did you find this place?" he exclaimed. "Why the devil aren't you dead? Has the entire world gone mad?!"

"No more questions from you," she replied coldly. "The next words out of your mouth had better be the location of the schematics for jinzouningen Seventeen and Eighteen, or the next part I cut off of you won't be so trivial."

Gero backed away from her a couple of paces, and all at once Bulma saw something in his face that she hadn't really expected – a look of unrestrained fear. "Why do you want those?" he demanded. "You can't just expect me to simply hand my life's work over to the likes of you!"

Encouraged by the positive effect her threats were having on him, Bulma took a step forward. "I intend to dismantle these abominations as soon as I've finished with you," she replied icily. "If you wake them up they'll only kill you anyway, if what the future has told us really will come to pass. You and Nineteen were not the jinzouningen we were expecting. Seventeen and Eighteen are; I can see that now. At least if you give me the schematics to these two monsters, I can destroy them properly and keep them from rampaging throughout the world, killing everyone and everything, including you. You deluded fool; you've been so eaten up with the idea of revenge that you've created your own Frankenstein's monsters, and once they turn on you, no one will be safe. If you give me the schematics and agree to stop this madness, you just might leave this place with your life. If not, my next slice will be fatal, and I'll find their blueprints myself sooner or later. The choice is yours, Doctor. Choose wisely."

Gero glanced furtively at the two pods containing his jinzouningen, and then he glared back at Bulma. Finally, with an angry sigh, he let his shoulders sag and he shook his head. "Ten years," he muttered. "Ten years I've toiled on these two. They are my magnum opus. I hope you realize that the technology in their design is the kind of genius that this world could truly benefit from. Imagine it – with technology like this, people can live forever! By simply transplanting the brain of a person into an artificial body, he can live a thousand lifetimes! Are you really so willing to destroy such vast potential?"

Bulma sneered. "I'm not so afraid of death that I'd try to cheat it for that long," she chuckled. "I've already told you before that I've seen the afterlife, and believe me; I'm in no hurry to go back, but when that time does come, I'm not going to panic. What's waiting for me there isn't the end of the world. I can't say the same for you, though. If you were to die today, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like what you found there.

"Now," she said, pointing the sword at him and tensing her muscles. "Quit stalling, Doctor. Where are the schematics?"

Gero scowled at her. "They're over there," he said, pointing to the opposite side of the room. "They're back there, in a hidden compartment behind my molecular destabilizer."

Bulma turned to see where he was pointing, and in doing so, she made a ridiculously stupid error. In the split second that her focus was turned from him, Gero darted forward and gave her a savage punch to the side of her face. Both the sword and Bulma went crashing into the opposite wall, and as she began to fall forward, Gero was right in her face. He gripped the front of her face in his right hand and slammed her head into the wall, stunning her with the blow. He let her fall to the floor at his feet, and as she stirred sluggishly, he shot a sinister chuckle at her.

"You naïve simpleton," he said with a pitying shake of his head. "Did you honestly think you could scare me with something so childish as a _sword_? The very idea that a nothing like you could ever evoke fear in someone like me is so laughable it's insulting. Still, the fact that you managed to find my lab and sneak inside - not to mention cut off my hand - is certainly something worth complimenting. To show you how impressed I am by your achievement, I'm going to grant your request, albeit more empirically than you might prefer. Rather than bore you with flat schematics, I'll allow you to witness the awakening of my creations for yourself, so that you may marvel at the genius of their design. Of course, you won't have much time to marvel, as the first task I intend to give them is to dismember you."

"B-bastard," Bulma spat at him, gripping her forehead in one hand as she tried to stop the world from spinning. "They'll kill you as soon as they're awake. At least I'll get to see that!"

"Peh," he scoffed at her, walking over to where his hand and his controller had fallen. He bent over and picked up the controller with his remaining hand. "I've perfected their design already. There'll be no more disobedience from these two, and even if there is, I've got the situation well in hand." He held up the controller for her to see, and he sneered at her. Then he walked over to the pod marked with the number seventeen, and he pressed a button on the controller.

The pod let out a beeping sound, and then the front half of it slowly began to swing upward from the hinge at the top. As Bulma began to regain her ability to move, she stared in horror at Gero, who pressed a button on the controller again, causing the second pod to open as well. Seconds later, both were open, and she could see the two creatures inside. Eighteen was an attractive, blond young girl, and Seventeen was an equally attractive, black-haired young boy. It was as Trunks had said. These were the _real_ threat he had warned them about.

The two jinzouningen opened their eyes and climbed out of their pods, all while Gero shot a grin of triumph first at Bulma, and then at them. "Jinzouningen Seventeen," he addressed the boy. Then he turned to the girl. "Jinzouningen Eighteen."

The two turned to look at Gero, and after a pause, they spoke. "Ah, Dr. Gero," Seventeen said in a calm, courteous voice. "How are you today?"

"Hello, Doctor," Eighteen said, her voice just as calm and polite. "How nice to see you again."

"Good, good!" Gero cried, beaming at them both before smirking evilly at Bulma. "How fine to see you both functioning so well! It appears that my repairs have worked well on you both. Now then; I'm afraid I must cut our pleasantries short. I have an uninvited guest I'd like for you to dispose of for me," he said, nodding at Bulma and smirking at them. For the first time, the two new jinzouningen turned around, and their gaze fell on Bulma. She felt a chill run through her as she realized what Trunks had been talking about when he had mentioned those eyes. They truly were cold and heartless.

"You see," Gero said, strolling forward past them and folding his hands behind his back, "she is one of several pesky insects who are threatening to destroy me. Naturally, they don't really have the power to do so, but I thought you both might enjoy a little exercise after such a long period of down-time. Once you've disposed of her, I'll expect you to take care of the others, who are waiting outside the lab as we speak."

"I gave you several chances," Bulma snarled at him, balling her hands into fists as she focused her chi. "I can see now that you're not even worth the parts you've been built from. This is the end, Gero!" In an instant, she had stopped time. Grunting painfully, she pushed herself upright and glanced around for Trunks' sword. She found it lodged in a dusty, inactive machine off in the corner, and she pulled it out with a grim scowl. She wasn't giving Gero any more chances. She knew what she had to do.

With slow, purposeful steps, Bulma walked over to Dr. Gero. Without a moment's hesitation, she drew back the sword, gathered her strength, and in one, clean swipe, she sliced off his head at the neck.


End file.
